Eye of the Beholder
by dsfeo78
Summary: AU Rizzles tale. Jane starts to realize the true nature of her feelings for Maura while she investigates a homicide that may have connections to an old closed case and could bring someone from her past into her present.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Forgive my multi-chapter story absence but I have returned with something new. Like always- AU simply because I seem to pick and choose what canon I acknowledge, what I ignore and what I decide to make up. This is a Rizzles tale mixed with my usual love of crime drama. But we will also take a little look into Jane's past and the early career of our detective. As per usual- I will post a new chapter daily. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Quite literally- but mostly in reference to character rights and all that legal stuff.**

Chapter One

_Remind me to never let my mother fix me up ever again! -M_

Maura finished typing the text message to Jane and hit send. She stood in front of the restroom sink and while she gave her best friend a few moments to send a response she checked her hair and makeup in the mirror. Her double check was completely unnecessary as her appearance was impeccable as always. Mainly, she was stalling for time. She was hoping Jane would supply her with at least one good sarcastic comment that would help carry her through what remained of a so far horrible blind date.

She had excused herself from the restaurant's table under the pretext of needing to freshen up before dinner arrived. It wasn't a complete falsehood as she did plan to wash her hands so she wasn't in fear of breaking out in hives for having made the request. What she had failed to mention to her date, an impishly boring and equally obnoxious commodities broker, was that she also needed a break from the monotonous rambles of her date's endless dialog. The man hadn't stopped talking since she had met up with him an hour ago.

One of the longest hours Maura had ever had to endure.

She released a heavy sigh as she looked down at her phone. A quick response from Jane appeared not to be forthcoming and she knew she couldn't delay her return to the table any further. She took in one last deep breath, returned her cell phone to her purse and slowly made her way back to the table. Perhaps, she thought, he will at least stop talking when the food was brought out. She made a mental note to decline dessert and coffee and hoped for a quick end to the evening.

R&I

_Remind me to never let my mother fix me up ever again! -M_

Jane looked down at the message from Maura as it displayed across her screen. She couldn't help but snicker at the message. If Maura was texting this early in the evening the blind date must be a complete disaster.

She started to type a smart ass remark but paused and looked up at her partners sitting across from her.

"Guys, it appears that the good Dr. Isles is trapped on a bad blind date," she said with a smile.

Both men looked over at Jane and seeing the smile on her face and her phone in her hand they both quickly figured out that Maura must have sent a complaint to Jane.

Frost smiled, "Why on Earth is she agreeing to blind dates?" The ME was an exceptionally beautiful woman and he was sure she could date anyone she wanted. Going on a blind date didn't seem to be something the ME would need or even want to do.

"Her mother," was all Jane offered up as an explanation. "She couldn't say no."

"Did she say what this guy's issue was?" Korsak asked a bit curious. "Hopefully he isn't another serial killer."

While he and Frost snickered at that comment, Jane didn't smile. It was too soon to be making jokes about Rockman especially considering how close Jane came to losing Maura. Korsak noticed Jane tense at what he meant to be a joke. He felt bad.

"Sorry," he said sincerely. "Too soon?"

Jane merely nodded at that question and let it go. "She hasn't explained what the issue seems to be. But she just asked me to remind her never to agree to another one again," Jane said. With the phone still in her hand she had an idea. "I think we need to step in and rescue her."

"Just tell her to say she has to respond to a crime scene," Frost offered. That's what he did from time to time to get out of something. He had always found 'work' as a great excuse to get out of situations including bad dates.

"It's not that simple. Our genius ME can't tell an outright lie," Jane pointed out. "The last thing she needs is to hyperventilate and pass out in front of this guy. We will need to get a little bit more creative to successfully get her out of there."

All three seemed to contemplate the situation for a moment.

"I got it," Jane said and she hit the series of buttons that sent a call to Maura's phone.

R&I

As Maura approached the table, her date smiled at her and made the gentlemanly move to stand and pull out her chair for her. His manners were at least noble she concluded as she retook her seat. It seemed too bad that his personality seemed to be void of any natural charisma or wit.

"Thank you," she said trying to smile in appreciation of the gesture.

"You're welcome," he answered back as he, too, sat down. "Now," he said as they had both settled in, "I had been telling you about…"

He was interrupted by the ringing of Maura's cell phone.

Maura looked apologetically to him as she pulled her phone from her purse. Glancing at the screen she saw that it was Jane and she had to fight herself not to smile.

"Dr. Isles," she said as authoritatively as she could manage.

"Listen very carefully to everything I'm about to tell you," Jane started. "We're staging an intervention on your behalf but you are going to have to do everything I tell you- when I tell you to- otherwise you will be stuck facing an entire evening with what I assume from your text is an unsuitable suitor."

Maura had to resist the urge to break out into a huge smile. The playful tone in Jane's voice alone was making it hard for her to attempt to stay stoic.

Jane's voice once again filled her head. "Now, repeat after me. Say 'I see'," Jane requested of Maura.

"I see," Maura dutifully repeated. Again, she struggled not to break out in a smile. She really wanted Jane to get her out of the rest of this date and she knew she wouldn't be able to pull off whatever Jane was planning if she smiled or started to laugh.

"Good. Now, look over at Prince Not-So-Charming and give him a slight nod as if you are really sorry for the interruption." Jane snickered as she gave this direction and Maura heard chuckles from what sounded like Vince.

Maura did as she was told and gave a slight nod to her date who seemed to be understanding of her need to continue the call. It continued to be difficult for her to not smile at Jane's efforts to rescue her from the date.

"For the record," Jane said as she assumed Maura was trying to convey her apologies to the dweeb she was sitting across from, "this would be an easier task to achieve if you were able to lie. But I can't have you break out in hives over this guy so just keep doing as I tell you and you should be good. Now, say 'Ok, how soon'."

Maura cleared her throat before trying to speak hoping that she could pull this off. She wasn't sure she wouldn't experience a vasovagal episode. "Ok, how soon?" Maura repeated as she was directed. She didn't feel any physiological responses to simply repeating what Jane was asking her to repeat. She was suddenly delighted that this appeared to be working.

"Good. You are doing good," Jane reassured her friend.

"Tell her to just dump the guy and make a run for it!" came Barry's voice in the background.

"Frost, quiet! I'm handling this," Maura heard Jane's muffled exclamation as she must have tried to cover the phone.

Maura couldn't help but hear both Vince and Barry laughing in the background and she once again had to resist the urge to smile. She could easily picture the scene with the three of them all sitting at the Dirty Robber and laughing at this rescue attempt. She heard Jane's voice come back over the phone.

"Ok, we need to wrap this up. First, say 'where exactly'," Jane instructed.

Maura, as she had since this whole escapade started, complied. "Where exactly?"

"Now, in a few seconds I will want you to say, 'I'll head there now' but not yet. After you say it you need to hang up and apologize for the interruption and say you need to cut the date short. He will ask if everything is ok and you need to say yes. Which is technically true since you are about to get your freedom. Then you need to tell him you are needed for a consultation. Don't elaborate. Just say you are needed for a consultation. Korsak, Frost and I are at the Robber and we need your expert opinion on several urgent matters so again you aren't technically lying so no fear of hives. Once he buys the consultation story, excuse yourself and head over here. There's a glass of wine ready for your consultation on whether it was a good year for the grapes from that particular vineyard. Got all of that?"

"Yes," Maura managed to answer.

"Good. Ok, say 'I'll head there now' and hang up. Loose the dweeb and get over to the Robber to join us." With that, Jane disconnected the call.

"I'll head there now," Maura said and hit a button on her phone before she lost her nerve. She looked over at her date. "I'm sorry but it appears that I need to cut our evening short." She placed her cell phone back in her purse and pushed her chair back from the table standing up.

"Is everything alright?" he asked totally unaware of what the emergency seemed to be.

"Yes," Maura answered. "But I am needed for a consultation." She didn't want to elaborate and had by that point stood up and was moving to back away from him trying to avoid eye contact with him as best she could. She knew she was walking a fine line between lying and just not elaborating and she was afraid if she lingered too long her body would finally betray her.

The man seemed to take it all in for a moment and just as Maura was afraid he was going to probe for details he simply said, "I understand. Being a Chief Medical Examiner puts you in pretty high demand I'm sure. I won't keep you."

Maura simply nodded but was very relieved he was not going to press for details. Jane was right about her inability to lie. She was afraid to get off script for fear of a sudden breakout of hives. "If you will excuse me," she uttered completely avoiding a second apology that would not have genuine. She quickly walked away not giving him a chance to attempt to reschedule the evening.

To her credit, she didn't burst out laughing until she was safely in her car and on her way to the Robber.

R&I

All three were laughing as Jane disconnected her rescue call with Maura.

"That was brilliant," Frost said through his smile. "Do you think she can pull it off?"

"I think so," Jane said through a smile. "I believe I was able to give her just enough to say that wasn't a lie but good enough to get her out of the date. If she gets here within the next fifteen minutes or so, we will have our answer."

Korsak nodded and made a move to stand up, "I've got next round," he announced as he started to make his way towards the bar.

"Vince," Jane said making him turn around, "please procure a glass of the Robber's finest for Maura." She was sure Maura was already in her car and on her way to join them.

He smiled and nodded as he restarted his trek to the bar to obtain the necessary beverages.

R&I

Twenty minutes later Maura walked into the Robber and spotted her friends. They hadn't seen her walk in yet and that gave her a moment to just take in the sight of them. Not just three colleagues but three dear friends all sat relaxed with bright smiles on their faces. Very dear friends. That notion made her smile and she couldn't help but think about just how lucky she was to have such good people in her life. The thought warmed her heart.

She kept her eyes on Jane as she walked towards the table for she was the one who had made all the intimate personal connections she had in her life possible but it was who Vince spotted her first. "Maura," he shouted out with a smile. Both Jane and Barry turned to greet the newly arriving ME with equal smiles and warmth.

"My heroes," Maura replied as she took a seat next to Vince and across from Jane.

The three snickered at the recollection of their effort to get Maura out of her date.

"Was it really that bad?" Barry asked as Maura settled in and Jane pushed her a glass of wine.

Maura didn't answer for a moment not one to be overly negative. "Let me put it this way," she said gathering everyone's attention. "There seemed to be a crowding issue. Between my date, his ego and his mouth there simply wasn't enough room at the table for me as well."

Jane groaned in sympathy while Frost and Korsak snickered. "Well, there is plenty of room here at this table," Jane said. "Even with all of our egos and mouths." Her comment causing all four to laugh.

The group spent the next hour just enjoying each other's company. It was a relaxed evening filled with plenty of laughter. But finally Korsak announced he was going to head out and Frost joined him shortly thereafter. That left Jane and Maura alone at the table each with about half of their last beverage left to finish.

"So," Jane said when they were finally alone. "Was he really that bad?"

Maura sighed. "He was nice enough but he just wouldn't stop talking. And while I find commodity trading somewhat interesting, I don't find it that interesting."

"Sorry," Jane said with sympathy. "I still don't know why you agreed to even go out with him."

"I told you," she said. "My mother knows his father and I just couldn't get myself to say no. But," she paused, "I doubt I will have that same issue next time."

"Do you want a next time?" Jane asked a little curious if Maura was really looking to start a relationship with someone.

Maura thought about that for a minute. "I'm not sure," she admitted. Jane couldn't help but notice the hint of sadness behind Maura's answer. "I mean I just don't have a good track record with dating." Both she and Jane seemed to mentally flash to Maura's last attempt at a relationship- Dennis Rockman- and how close they came to it ending with losing Maura. "But I don't know if I am ready to accept being alone for the rest of my life."

Jane worried about her friend's tone. "Hey," she said and looked right into Maura's eyes. "You are not alone." She said it emphatically and let a small silence settle between them to make sure Maura took in what she was saying. After a moment she reached across the table and took Maura's hands into hers. Continuing to stare directly into Maura's deep hazel eyes Jane finished her thought, "You may not be in a relationship but Maura you will never, ever be alone."

Maura looked at her friend and smiled. She knew she had Jane and Jane's family in her life. She had the friendship of Vince and Barry. Most times that was more than she thought she had a right to ask for and maybe, just maybe, that was even enough.

Jane couldn't help but notice that the smile Maura had returned as she looked back at Jane didn't quite reach her eyes. There was still a sadness in Maura's features and Jane wanted to figure out a way to take that sadness away. She wasn't sure how yet but she knew she would think of something.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"What do we have?" Jane called out to Frost as she walked up towards the scene. She was carrying three cups of coffee she had stopped to get for Frost, Maura and herself. She stopped about fifty yards from the actual body so she could survey the area.

The area was wide open. The Charles River Loop was one of the most popular jogging and biking paths in the Boston area. From Jane's vantage point the victim was not hidden and it seemed a guarantee given the logistics that the body would be discovered at first light. Jane made a mental note that the killer didn't seem concerned about hiding his...or her...crime.

Frost looked up from where he was standing to see his partner approaching the area. Before Jane had even stopped he started to make his way towards her. He was used to Jane's habit of taking in the entire crime scene before she walked up to look over the victim. That part of her crime scene routine was one of the very first things she ever taught him when he transitioned into homicide.

"Female victim," he started. "24 years old. Responding officers recovered her ID and cell phone." He gratefully accepted his cup of coffee from Jane. It was early and he hadn't had a chance to get a cup yet. He knew Jane would come bearing the much needed beverage. She never let him down.

Jane looked over to Frost a little surprised. "Really?" she couldn't help but ask. That seemed to be an unusual piece of good fortune for the detective duo.

Frost nodded. "Victim's name is Allyson Montgomery. I ran her but no record was found." Frost could find DMV and vehicle information for Montgomery but she did not have any kind of criminal record nor had she received any citations.

Jane turned back to look over the crime scene. The body was discovered along the jogging loop just off the Esplanade and just west of the Reservation IV Park. She took in the surroundings and turned to Frost. "What did you see?" she asked.

Frost smirked. It had been awhile since Jane quizzed him about a scene. He turned to face the area and stood next to his partner. "It's quiet. Even with the commotion of the CSRU team started to mark off the area it was still quiet. There was more light than when she was first discovered but given her location I believe she would have been seen easily if someone had been jogging at night."

"What does that tell you?" she asked more curious about his initial conclusions than any concern that he had missed a detail.

"She was found not too long after she was placed here," he answered immediately. Given the popularity of the trail it was an easy assumption that she hadn't been out here for very long.

Jane smiled. Frost was getting better and better over the years. "What else?"

"No tire tracks near the body and she isn't dressed for any exercise so this seems to be a dump site and not our murder scene. The walk from the lot by the park is not a long one. Our killer could have pulled up and parked over there and carried her here."

Jae looked over towards the park and saw where a vehicle had easy access to drive and park without leaving tire tracks. The entire route was paved. Looking from the lot to where the body currently was laying Jane made a note of something else. She was about to say something when Frost spoke again.

"Our killer seems to have walked past several better dump sites to leave her there," he said and pointed to a few areas where the shrubs and bushes could have done a better job of hiding the body. "It appears she was meant to be found."

It was the same feeling Jane had as she looked over the scene. While she was happy with Frost's observations they worried her. She had a feeling this case was going to be complicated. "Anything else?"

Frost thought for a moment and then answered. "Just an impression our suspect is male," he answered.

"Why?" she asked already knowing what Frost's reasoning would be but asking anyway.

"She was carried here," he answered. "That kind of dead weight and the need to walk her and not drag her, I see a male suspect and not a female one." Sure, some women had that kind of strength and conditioning and he wouldn't rule the possibility out this early in the investigation but for an initial assessment he played the percentages and the odds told him they were looking for a male.

Frost had hit on everything Jane had seen as she looked over the area. She couldn't help but be a little proud at how far he had come as an investigator since partnering up with her. "Who found her?" she asked.

"A jogger," Frost answered as he motioned towards a man who was talking to a uniformed officer.

Jane nodded. "At least it wasn't by a kid," she said quietly. Looking down at her watch she knew, at 6:15 am, it was too early in the morning for the nearby park to be full of little kids. "Cause of death?" she asked still looking around trying to take in all of the surroundings.

Instead of answering Frost just turned his attention towards the victim. "I think you need to see this for the first time yourself," was all that Frost would say.

Jane turned her head to look over towards the victim and saw for the first time that Maura was on site. Maura was hovering over the victim and appeared to be checking the victim's extremities for signs of injuries or broken bones. Jane couldn't help the small hint of a smile that crept across her face. There was just something about seeing the ME in action that Jane loved to watch.

Slowly, both Jane and Frost made their way over to the victim. Frost seemed intent on letting Jane just see for herself what was going on so she didn't bother asking any other questions. However, the moment she laid eyes on the victim she understood why Frost hadn't answered her.

The very first thing she noticed was that the victim's eyes had been removed. Her years as a homicide detective had steeled her from reacting to most crime scenes no matter the brutality. But looking down at this young woman Jane couldn't remember seeing anything as unnerving as what she was looking down upon.

"Maura?" she asked but didn't look away from the victim.

"Enucleation," Maura answered back.

"Try that in English for me please," Jane responded. "And the short version if you would be so kind," she added. A full anatomy lesson on the structure of the eye wasn't what Jane had in mind that early in the morning. She handed over to Maura her cup of coffee as she waited for a better explanation.

"Thank you," the ME said as she removed her gloves and stepped away from the body to accept the coffee. "Enucleation refers to the removal of an eyeball from the orbital socket while leaving behind the eyelids and the eye muscles. As opposed to exenteration which would have described the removal of all of the anatomical structures of the eye." That was as short an explanation Maura could think to give Jane.

"Professional?" Jane wondered aloud. As crazy as it sounded Jane was aware that there was a black market for all kinds of organs. Including eyes.

"I won't be able to say for certain until I perform a complete autopsy but the dissection appears to be very crude. The superior oblique and inferior rectus muscles as well as the optic nerve appear to be severed more than cleanly dissected." Maura answered Jane. It would be as close to an assumption or guess as Maura felt comfortable giving Jane.

"Think you will be able to tell what was used to make the cuts?" Jane asked. She knew what Maura's answer was going to be but she asked anyway.

"I can't say at this point," Maura answered.

"Can you tell if she was still alive when that happened?" Jane asked. For the sake of the victim Jane hoped the answer was no.

"I can't say for certain yet but my initial assessment leads me to believe the eyes were removed post mortem." Maura never liked to commit too much during an initial field assessment.

"Cause of death?" Jane asked as she moved to the other side of the victim now trying to look at the rest of her condition and not just the missing eyes.

"There are ligature marks around her neck," Maura pointed out, "with significant bruising but again…"

"You'll be able to confirm strangulation only during autopsy," Jane finished Maura's sentence. It didn't bother Jane that Maura was so precise. In fact, she always appreciated Maura's meticulous nature. As much as she sometimes wanted Maura to speculate and guess she fully understood it was for everyone's benefit that Maura simply would not jump to any conclusions. It made them all better at their jobs.

Maura half smiled. "Sorry, but I will need to do a complete autopsy to determine what exactly happened here. There does not appear to be any other signs of physical injuries. No extremities appear to be broken. Also, I do not detect any visible signs of tissue or blood under her fingernails but we bagged her hands to preserve any evidence that may exist on a microscopic level."

"Thoughts on time of death?" Jane asked.

"Rigor has not yet set in so your window is within the last three to four hours," Maura answered.

By habit Jane looked back down at her watch. The victim was found close to 5:30 am so that window put time of death between 2:30 and 5:30 am. Not too bad of a window to have to deal with. They had gotten lucky that the body was basically discovered at first light.

Jane turned her attention to Frost and looked down at the victim again. "A victim who still had ID and a cell phone. On a popular jogging path. In plain sight. Someone made this very easy for us," Jane said in a worried tone. "I don't like that." It seemed to go against what was 'normal' for a homicide.

"What are you thinking?" Frost asked his partner.

"I'm not sure. But something tells me there's more to this than what is in front of us." She looked around the scene again trying to see if she had missed anything. Not seeing anything left to review Jane turned to Frost. "Let's go handle notification. We can have Vince run the details through ViCAP and see if we get a hit," she said.

"You think something like this has happened before?" Frost asked only now considering for the first time that there could be a similar case.

"I'm not sure but I have a feeling," she answered.

Frost simply nodded. Jane's feelings were always good enough for him. "I'll call in the details to Korsak on our way to her apartment," Frost offered.

Jane nodded. She turned to Maura. "Do you need anything?" she asked.

Maura shook her head. "We are almost done here. I'll follow her in and start the autopsy. I should have some preliminary findings for you in a couple of hours."

R&I

"So, what do we have?" Korsak's voice came across Frost's cell which he had put on speaker so both he and Jane could talk with Vince.

"We need you to run something through ViCAP for us to see if we get any hits," Jane offered up.

"Alright," came Vince. There was a pause and both Jane and Frost could tell he was trying to access the ViCAP program. "What exactly am I looking for?"

"Female victims ages 18-24. Cause of death asphyxiation with ligature marks. Disposal of body in a public, well traveled area. Removal of the eyes," Jane spoke as she heard Korsak's fingers typing on the keyboard.

"What?" Korsak said as the typing on the keyboard stopped suddenly. "Did you just say removal of the eyes?"

"Yes," Frost answered. "Both eyes were cut out of our victim."

"No wonder you wanted this run through ViCAP," Vince replied as he finished typing in the query criteria.

"She was found on a public jogging trail with ID and cell phone," she offered as they all were waiting for the records to be searched. "That bothers me more than the missing eyes."

"That is awfully convenient," Korsak pointed out understanding what Jane meant.

"Too convenient," Jane confirmed back.

"Sexual assault?" Vince asked.

"Not sure," Jane answered. "Maura will check back that the lab but from what we could tell on scene I would say not likely."

They were quiet for a few minutes all waiting for the ViCAP results. When they finally heard from Vince again they couldn't make out what he was saying as it appeared as if he was reading the results more to himself than out loud for Jane and Frost to hear.

"That's interesting," they heard Vince mumble. Jane couldn't make out much more from Korsak as his mumbling continued. "Oh…." which was very clearly heard by both Frost and Jane and then there was an odd silence after that.

"Vince, want to include us in on what it is you are looking at? Your mumbles aren't really helping us here." Jane asked waiting for an explanation.

"Oh, sorry," his voice came suddenly across the phone. "Jane," he said and paused reading through some of the information that was on the computer screen, "you're going to want to see this. Handle the notification and get back here."

Jane glanced over at Frost trying to understand why Korsak just wasn't giving her any details but he seemed clueless and just shrugged his shoulders.

"Vince?" Jane tried again. "What hit did you get?"

"Not hit. Hits," he answered. "Two of them and according to this the killer is already in prison in Cedar Junction."

"Cedar Junction?" Jane responded surprised. "Our ViCAP hits come back to cases with someone already in prison?"

"The cases are from 2002," Vince answered.

"That was ten years ago," Frost pointed out. He couldn't remember hearing about any cases that involved someone cutting out the victim's eyes before. Even from ten years ago.

"Yes," Korsak answered. "The cases were closed when the suspect plead guilty and was sent to Walpole ten years ago."

"Is he still there?" Jane asked wondering if maybe they were dealing with a recent parolee going back to old habits.

"He's still incarcerated," Korsak confirmed. "He's serving multiple life sentences and he isn't eligible for parole."

"How similar is the MO?" Frost asked now wondering if there was just small similarities between the ViCAP hits and their current case.

"Looks like the same MO," Vince answered. "Age of the victims, strangulation, disposal of the body in a well traveled public area and removal of the victims' eyes." He hadn't seen the crime scene but from what Jane and Frost had said and what he was looking at it appeared to him to be the same MO. "Plus there's something I doubt will be a coincidence."

"What's that?" asked Frost.

"The ViCAP cases are from ten years ago," Vince answered as if that explained some major point.

"Yeah," Jane answered a little confused. "You said that already. 2002 was ten years ago. I'm not sure I see your point."

"The first victim was found in May of 2002," Vince replied and knew that would help Jane understand what he meant. "May 8th to be exact."

"That's makes it ten years ago to the day," Frost pointed out. "That definitely can't be a coincidence."

Not one of the three partners believed in coincidences. They all had been cops too long to subscribe to the notion of coincidence. The minute Korsak said the first victim of the 2002 case hits was found on the same date as their current victim all three detectives were convinced that their case was linked to the ViCAP hits Vince had found. What remained now was just figuring out that link.

"Clearly there is a link of some kind," Jane said. "We will handle the notification and get an idea of our victim's timeline. Frost will send you the cell phone number of our victim so we can get started on the phone dump. Can you pull the case files on what you found in ViCAP? We can start to try to piece together what all of this could be when Frost and I get back to the station."

"I'll pull the files as soon as I get off the phone with you," Korsak answered. He paused and debated telling Jane one last piece of information. Part of him wanted to just wait for her to get back to the station to review the case files but he knew she would be more upset that he didn't warn her before she saw it. So he needed to tell her. "Jane,' he said and paused. "There's one more thing."

"Yeah?" she replied picking up on the sudden change in Korsak's tone.

"Just so you know, Jennings was the primary for the cases from 2002."

Frost turned to look at Jane after hearing this. He, too, had noticed the change in Korsak's tone but he was not sure what it meant or what to make of the look that his partner now had on her face. He knew the name but he didn't understand why Korsak was giving Jane a heads up or why it sounded like it was the last thing he had wanted to say out loud. No one said anything for a few moments.

Finally, Jane broke the silence. "Pull the case files. We'll be there as quickly as we can."

Even through the phone, Korsak heard the edge to Jane's voice. And he knew without a doubt that Andrew Jennings was the cause of that edge.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_May 2003_

"_Come on Rizzoli! You're doggin it!"_

_Jane tried not to pay attention to what was being shouted at her. In her head, she knew what they were trying to do. They were just trying to get under her skin. Trying to distract her. She wasn't going to fall for it. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book and it wasn't going to work on her._

_No. She was ready. She knew she could get through the entire course and the most important part of this skills test was the ability to concentrate on exactly what you are doing as you were doing it. Lose your focus and you will fail. She wasn't going to let that happen. Not now. Not after all she had done to get this far. She wanted this too much._

"_Pick it up Rizzoli! Half ass efforts aren't going to cut it out here!"_

_Jane blocked out the voices. They weren't trying to help her so she wasn't going to let them hurt her. Instead, she focused on the things that were within her control. Her breathing. Her footwork. Her peripheral vision. The rhythm and pace of her hand movements. All that was in front of her. That was all that mattered to her now._

_She was in the middle of the last of the tactical qualifications for aspiring detectives. She was so close to earning that gold shield and she knew it. She had already aced her detective's exam. Aced it. Best score in the group. She also had the best firearm qualifications too. Jane was hands down one of the best shots in the entire department. In fact, she knew of only one person who was a better shot than she was._

_Neither the exam nor the shooting range had ever posed a threat for her. She had been worried about her interviews more than anything else. The most probably. And with good reason. She had been warned about some of the tactics her interviewers would use. That they would try to goat her. Bait her. Get her to react emotionally. She had been warned._

_She just hadn't been prepared for how far they would go to try to achieve it. They played the gender card. They tried to get under her skin claiming women couldn't handle the physical requirements of the job. That a woman wouldn't be able to handle a perp in a fight. That because she was a female she would somehow be a liability to her partner or other officers. That she was just inherently inferior to the male candidates._

_One interviewer even questioned her sexual orientation. When that happened, she was just glad that she had been warned to expect that one. So she was ready for it. Had she not had that warning she was sure they would have won and she would have lost her cool. But instead, she calmly dismissed the stereotypes and answered all the questions without an emotional reaction all the while providing specific examples from what was already a very active career._

_She could handle the perps. She in fact had handled multiple resistors from her days as a beat cop and not once did she lose the fight or her suspect. Nor did she overreact or respond with excessive force. She had meritorious citations for her bravery and her ability to handle herself even in the most difficult of situations. Five years on the force had given her plenty of opportunities to amass an impressive service record. _

_As far as their attempt to question her sexuality was concerned, she didn't even dignify those comments and questions with an answer. All of that was irrelevant and no one's business as far as she was concerned. The tactics were low blows and one of the interviewers even pulled her aside after her session to apologize. He said it was just usually an easy way to get an emotional reaction from people so they took the shot frequently. He didn't answer when Jane asked if they used that tactic on the male candidates. His non-answer was answer enough for Jane._

"_You're fading Rizzoli! You aren't going to make it! Maybe you're not cut out for this!"_

_She had made it through all the rest of the physical qualifications. This was the last one. The obstacle course. She had practiced this one hundreds of times before today. She just needed to have faith in her abilities to finish. Like she had a hundred other times. She could do this and she knew it. She could finish the entire course in under the required time. She just couldn't get distracted._

_And then, she finished. With plenty of time to spare. Looking around she also realized she had been the first one across the finish line. As she tried to catch her breath she didn't stop the smile that formed. She did it. _

"_Nice job Rizzoli." _

_As she made her way towards the locker room for a much needed shower, she couldn't help but notice the approving smiles from several of the detectives who had come to watch the candidates run through the course. Jane knew she was over the last remaining hurdle that stood between her and the gold shield she so desperately wanted. _

_It was now just a matter of time and a rookie assignment_

R&I

"Maura," Angela greeted the ME with a smile. "What can I get for you?"

Maura returned Angela's smile as she approached the cafe's counter. "Tea, please," she requested.

Angela nodded but also gave a look of motherly disapproval. "You need to eat something too." Before Maura protested that she merely wanted a beverage Angela cut her off. "Go. Sit and I will also get you a bran muffin."

Maura recognized the look on Angela's face and knew there was no arguing with her. So she simply nodded and made her way to a table to wait for the tea and apparently a muffin. As she took her seat she couldn't help but smile. The Rizzoli matriarch had long ago accepted Maura as one of her children. That alone was enough to warm Maura's insides.

"Here you are," Angela said placing the hot tea and a muffin in front of Maura. She then took a seat which answered Maura's unasked question about whether she was to eat the muffin now or if she could take it down to her office. Apparently she would be eating it now. "So how was your date last night?" Angela asked with a curious smile.

"Ugh," Maura couldn't help the groan that escaped her.

Angela snickered. "That bad, huh?" she asked with sympathy. Angela had already been asleep when Maura returned from the Robber the night before and the call from dispatch had Maura out earlier than normal this morning. This was the first time she had seen Angela since before her date.

"Jane had to rescue me," Maura admitted with a smile remembering the antics that had helped her avoid what would have been an awful evening.

Angela chuckled. "Serves you right," she said and focused her stare in on the ME.

"My mother," Maura started but Angela cut her off.

"Your mother would leave you alone if you told her the truth," she said pointedly.

Maura dropped her eyes and frowned. "I can't tell her," she said in a small voice.

Angela reached across the table and took hold of Maura's hand. "Honey, Constance loves you. You can tell her the truth without worrying about how she would react."

"It's not that," Maura answered and looked up to make sure Angela know she really didn't think her mother would have an issue with her. "It's just that I can't tell my mother a truth that I can't seem to tell her yet. It's bad enough that you know and she doesn't. That list can't grow any longer."

Angela shook her head in frustration. "Then tell _her_."

"I….I just can't," Maura answered in a defeated tone.

"Maura, you are going to regret the time you have wasted being afraid of simply telling her the truth," Angela warned. "You've already wasted too much time if you ask me."

It was a scolding only a mother could get away with. "I have tried," Maura offered up somewhat defensively. Weakly but defensively. She had tried. Maybe a more accurate description was she had thought about trying. Seriously thought about trying. In fact she thought about saying something as recently as last night. But she didn't.

"Not good enough young lady," Angela said a harsh tone that somewhat surprised Maura. "You owe it to yourself AND to my daughter to do more than try. Just tell her how you feel about her."

Maura picked at the muffin in front of her absentmindedly. She wasn't ready to commit to that just yet. She knew Angela was right. But being right didn't make admitting the truth any easier of a task to accomplish. There was too much at stake and Maura was just not ready to risk everything when the outcome was far from certain.

R&I

Jane and Frost took about two hours to handle the notification. After stopping at Montgomery's apartment, which they found unoccupied, they obtained access from the building's landlord. Jane requested a CSRU team to go through the apartment on the off chance there was any DNA or prints that might be helpful later in the investigation. Frost took possession of the computer and iPad they found. The landlord was able to provide them with the emergency contact information Montgomery had listed on the lease agreement.

That contact person turned out to be Montgomery's mother, Valerie. Before leaving to speak with her Frost ran Allyson through DMV records and found a 2011 Nissan Maxima registered in her name. Jane and Frost walked the apartment parking garage but they could not find the vehicle. Frost called in a BOLO for the vehicle as they headed to Valerie Montgomery's residence.

While handling the notification of family was always difficult, Jane had a very natural, gentle demeanor when she was questioning those so suddenly left behind. She was extremely patient waiting for as long as it would take for the parent, the spouse, the sibling or the loved one to regain a control on their emotions. Jane knew having a homicide detective appear so unexpectedly on their doorstep required a delicate approach. Frost was always in awe of Jane's ability to empathize with the victim's family. The fact that she was genuine was what Frost always believed allowed Jane to extract important information during the notification process. Even in grief, Jane's sincerity would reach people and they would compose themselves enough to answer the needed questions.

Valerie Montgomery was no different than any of the other mothers Jane had to notify. After Jane let Valerie regain her composure they were able to establish some specifics for Allyson's timeline from the previous night as Valerie had had dinner with Allyson. Jane was able to get an idea of the time of that diner, the location and that Allyson had driven herself to the restaurant in her Nissan.

She didn't know the whereabouts of Allyson's car nor could she think of anyone who would have wanted to hurt her daughter. Jane was also able to establish that Allyson had a boyfriend, Curtis Murphy, who was out of town on business in New York. It was a solid relationship according to Valerie who admitted before breaking down in tears a second time that Murphy had been planning to propose to Allyson when he returned from his trip.

As Jane and Frost drove back they debated trying to track down the boyfriend in New York before returning to the station but Jane wanted to get a look at the case files Korsak was pulling and she was hoping that Maura had some preliminary results for them.

"I really want to know if there is any evidence of sexual assault before we talk with the boyfriend," Jane said as they drove towards the station. "I know Valerie said he was in New York but on the off chance he is involved I'd like to know more from Maura before we speak with him."

Frost nodded. "Dr. Isles should have at least that answer ready for us by the time we return." Two hours would have been enough time for the ME to determine if an assault had occurred but not any DNA results.

"If we are lucky," Jane added, "she may even be able to confirm that strangulation was the cause of death."

"I really want to see the case files Korsak found from ViCAP," Frost said ending the comfortable silence that had settled over them for a few blocks. "It looks like you might be right when you said there was probably more to our case than what was in front of us." He never doubted Jane or her instincts. In fact, it was times like these that he was in awe of Jane's ability to make such assessments.

Jane didn't say anything but she was thinking the same thing. She hadn't exactly expected to find a possible link to a closed case but she had the feeling this case was going to be complicated as soon as she saw the crime scene.

They drove in silence for a few miles before Frost decided to test the water on another subject. "I didn't know you knew Andrew Jennings," he said. He was pretty sure she wasn't going to take the bait and fill him in on why Korsak needed to warn her about Jennings being the primary but the curiosity was getting to him. He was also genuinely concerned as he could tell Jane had been bothered by hearing the man's name.

Jane didn't answer for a minute but finally spoke. "I knew him,' was all she offered as an answer. In truth, that was all Frost expected he would get from her. The rest of their drive to the station was made in silence.

R&I

_June 2003_

"_You just need to have a little patience Rizzoli," the lieutenant tried to explain. "There are spots opening up at the end of the summer. We have two detectives retiring in August. Once that happens you will transition into a permanent spot."_

_Jane just nodded her head. At this point there wasn't much she could do but wait. She had her promotion. She just didn't have a home. She had been a floater now for the last three weeks. "Which divisions?" she asked now curious as to what possible assignments could be permanent for her._

"_Vice and Robbery," the lieutenant answered._

_Immediately Jane knew she was destined for the Vice opening. How could they pass up on a female detective for Vice. As she thought about it, she mostly believed it was a better place for her than Robbery but she wasn't looking forward to the undercover 'hooker' stings she knew would be in her future. "So where am I working this week?" she asked. Last week she had been stuck in the property room sorting through evidence from cold case files._

_At that question, the lieutenant finally smiled. "Rizzoli, it's your lucky day."_

_Jane frowned at hearing this assuming that she was about to hear something awful. "Do I really want to know?" She envisioned another week in the moldy, dusty property room._

_The lieutenant chuckled. "Relax, this time it's good news. One of the homicide detectives is out on an extended medical leave," he started._

"_Jackson?" Jane asked. She had heard about Jackson getting hurt chasing down a suspect a couple of days ago._

_The lieutenant nodded. "The leg is broken and he is going to need surgery. So, you get to partner up with Jennings and unless there is an issue you should stay there until the Vice or Robbery spot opens."_

_The smile that crossed Jane's face as she heard what the lieutenant was saying was priceless. Not only was she getting a rotation in homicide- the division she hoped to one day make her final career move- but she was also being partnered with Andrew Jennings. The man was a legend on the force and Jane just couldn't believe she was going to get a chance to work with him._

_The lieutenant smiled at the look on Jane's face. He knew the rookie detective in front of him had hopes of one day becoming a homicide detective. "See Rizzoli...sometimes things happen for a reason."_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When Jane and Frost arrived at the station they rode separate elevators. Frost was going up to the bullpen to get Korsak caught up on what they had learned about Allyson Montgomery from her mother as well as to check on the status of the cell phone dump. Jane was heading down to the morgue to see what preliminary information Maura might have available.

Jane got off the elevator and headed straight for the morgue knowing that was where she would find the ME. She entered the lab and wasn't surprised at all to see Maura leaning over the body with a look of intense concentration. One of the reasons Maura was the best ME Jane had ever worked with was her meticulous attention to detail.

Jane slowed her pace as she approached Maura not wanting to startle her while she was actively examining the body.

"Hello Jane," Maura said without even looking up from what she was doing.

"Heard me coming huh?" Jane asked and smiled as she approached the table. She stopped far enough away as to not inadvertently contaminate the body as she did not stop to gown or glove up. "I know it's early yet but I was wondering if you had any preliminaries."

"Give me one second," Maura answered as she finished up what she was doing. Once she completed her task she took a step away from the body on the table and removed her latex gloves. "I do have a few items for you," she said and walked over to retrieve several reports she had made ready for Jane.

"Have you determined cause of death?" Jane asked as she kept her gaze on the body instead of Maura.

Maura approached Jane and handed her a file folder of several reports. "Asphyxiation," Maura answered. She indicated to Jane to open the folder. "I don't have a full report back on the analysis of the texture and pattern of the ligature marks so I can't tell you what exactly was used to strangle her but given the wound pattern I can rule out hands at this point. The lab should be able to have comparisons complete by some time tomorrow for what was used."

Jane nodded as she looked through some of Maura's prelims. "And the eyes?"

"They were in fact removed post mortem," Maura stated. "Again, the lab is still trying to analyze the tissue to see if they can determine the instrument used for the dissection. The connective tissue and muscle were severely frayed so it was not a clean cut. I can rule out a scalpel at this point and given the condition of the tissue it is highly improbable that the eyes were removed for transplant purposes. There was too much damage for them to be viable for continued medical use."

Jane lowered the folder and looked over at Allyson again. "Sexual assault?"

Maura shook her head. "No. And no signs of any recent sexual activity either."

Jane continued to look over at Allyson and didn't suppress the heavy sigh that escaped her. Maura for the first time since Jane entered the lab looked closely at her friend and now picked up on the fact that something seemed to be bothering her.

"Jane?" she asked quietly.

"Hmm?" was Jane's only response as she seemed a bit preoccupied.

"Is everything ok?" Maura asked mildly concerned.

That seemed to snap Jane out of her state and she turned to face Maura. "Yeah," she replied. "I'm just not sure what's going on with this case."

That was true. As soon as she took in the entire crime scene earlier she couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was something more to this case than they could see yet. Once she learned from Korsak that there was a ViCAP hit and it coincided with the tenth anniversary of the first possible linked case Jane was certain there was something more going on.

But, the case wasn't the only thing that was bothering her. Her mood on the day had virtually been spoiled the second Korsak mentioned Andrew Jennings' name. A name she hadn't heard in a very long time. One she would have been happy to never hear again.

Maura wasn't convinced that the case was the only thing bothering her friend. She had seen Jane struggle to get a grasp around a case before but looking at her friend she sensed sadness more than confusion or frustration.

"Did you get any hits from ViCAP when you ran the MO?" she asked knowing Jane was more likely to discuss the case than whatever else seemed to be upsetting her.

Jane nodded. "Korsak found a hit that links back to two cases from 2002."

"Ten years ago?" Maura asked a little surprised at the amount of time between the hits and their current case.

Jane nodded. "Ten years. To the day as a matter of fact. I'm certain that's enough to link the cases but until I can review the case files I'm not real sure how or why there is a link to such an old case."

"And the ViCAP details match this case?" Maura asked.

"I haven't seen the details but it looks like it. Korsak just read through the ViCAP hits to Frost and I over the phone," Jane said. "He was pulling the files for us to review. I'm hoping we can get a better sense of what is going on after the case review."

"Was that case closed?" Maura asked. It would be unusual but not unheard of for a killer to go long periods of time in between killing sprees.

Jane nodded. "Suspect plead guilty and is a current resident at Cedar Junction."

"Well, I'm sure you will be able to figure out how this case ties into the first ones," she offered. "Do you know the assigned detective from the first cases?" Maura asked. "Ten years wasn't too long ago. The primary detective could still be on the force," she added trying to be helpful.

Jane paused before giving a quick, dismissive answer. "I knew him."

From her tone, it was clear to Maura that there was something more to that piece of information but it was equally clear to her that Jane wasn't going to elaborate on that point so she let it go. "I should have the results of the tox screen in a few hours."

Jane nodded again. This time it was more in appreciation for Maura's willingness not to ask further questions about the detective from the first case than acknowledging that a tox screen would be available soon. "Anything on fibers or DNA?"

"The lab is still analyzing her clothes for fibers and trace evidence. However, I was unable to find any tissue or DNA under the fingernails. If she tried to fight off her attacker she didn't manage to scratch him. Or her for that matter." Clearly the sex of the possible killer had yet to be determined.

Jane nodded. "I need to head back upstairs." She closed the file Maura had given her. "Thank you," she said knowing she was thanking her friend for more than just trying to get her test results back quicker. Some of that thank you was for the fact that Maura never seemed to push her when she wasn't ready to talk about something.

"You're welcome," Maura said with a genuine smile. "There are several other labs out that could be ready later today. If I get anything more I will let you know."

Jane nodded. She took one last look at Allyson Montgomery but seemed to linger a moment without leaving.

"Jane?" Maura asked now certain something more than the unanswered questions about this case was bothering her friend.

"Yeah?" Jane answered and turned her attention to the ME.

"What's the matter?" she asked softly. She wasn't sure she'd get an answer. She knew Jane wouldn't be pushed into talking before she was ready. But she couldn't not ask.

Jane released a heavy sigh. "The primary detective from the ViCAP hits," she started but didn't finish.

"What about him?" Maura asked.

Jane looked at Maura. She started to say something but stopped. Maura couldn't tell if it was because she couldn't figure out what to say or that she just didn't want to be saying it.

Maura was about to ask another question but they were interrupted by one of Maura's lab techs. "Dr. Isles? Susie asked me to come find you. She needs some help with one the reports."

Maura looked from the tech back to Jane and knew their chance to talk further was just interrupted. Before she could say anything Jane spoke.

"I need to head upstairs and see what the guys have found. Talk later?" she asked as she was already turning towards the elevators.

"Sure," Maura answered. She was sure she would get the story about this detective from Jane at some point but not before Jane was ready to tell her.

R&I

"So what's the deal with Jane and Andrew Jennings?" Frost asked Korsak as they were sitting at their desks. Frost knew who Jennings was but he had no idea that Jane had any history with the former detective. And he certainly hadn't heard of anything so major that Korsak had hesitated to even mention his name to Jane on the phone earlier.

"You'll have to ask Jane," Korsak answered without looking up from his file.

"Vince," Frost said a little hurt that he wouldn't tell him. After all this time he was sure they had passed the point of having any secrets between them. He viewed Korsak more as another partner instead of a supervisor.

Korsak looked up from his file. "Seriously Frost," he started. "You need to ask Jane. I don't know what happened between them."

That was mostly the truth. He had a pretty good idea about had occurred but he had never asked Jane about it. And he didn't even piece it together until a few years after Jennings had left the department. He never would have at all had it not been for something Cavanaugh mentioned when Vince was being told he was going to be partnered up with Jane after she got her transfer into homicide.

Otherwise, Korsak had witnessed what everyone else witnessed when whatever happened with Jennings happened. He had been in homicide with Jennings and knew the entire department viewed the man as a legend. But one day he was just gone. There were wild rumors about him and what he might have done but Vince was more surprised at the top brass' reaction than the rumors. All he knew was whatever happened was bad enough that the department's best detective magically 'transferred' to a force down state without any notice or explanation and his name was suddenly taboo for an entire division prone to singing the praises of one of their own.

"And she's never," Frost started.

"Never. And I'm never going to be the one who asks. I highly suggest you avoid the temptation," Vince warned the younger detective. "You know how Jane is. If she wants us to know something she will tell us."

Frost just nodded. He wasn't going to be the one to ask either. He valued his friendship, and his partnership, with Jane too much to jeopardize it for the sake of curiosity.

R&I

As Jane approached the bullpen, Frost and Korsak were huddled together discussing something. She looked around and saw that they had gotten a start on the murder board and had marked notations on Montgomery's timeline that they were aware of. A quick scan of the board let Jane see that the cell phone dump was back as Frost had made some notations based on calls, missed calls and text messages that Jane had not seen yet.

"Are we tracing those numbers?" Jane asked still looking at the murder board.

Turning his attention away from Vince and towards Jane Frost answered. "That one," Frost said pointing to the one linked to a call received by Montgomery at 9:55 pm, "belongs to the boyfriend Curtis Murphy. He also sent a good night text at 10:30 pm. That one," he pointed at another number from earlier in the night at 6:47 pm, "belongs to Valerie Montgomery. The rest we are still working on but should have IDs by tomorrow morning."

"Tower pings?" she asked.

"Tomorrow at the earliest," Frost said.

Given that they didn't know much about Montgomery's activities after she left her dinner with her mother around 9:45 pm Jane was hoping her cell phone pinged off several towers to help narrow down where she went after the restaurant.

"Let's reach out to the boyfriend," she said to Frost. "Maura confirmed no evidence of sexual assault."

Frost nodded and went to go handle that call.

"What else did Dr. Isles have?" Korsak asked as he turned his attention to Jane.

"Asphyxiation is cause of death," Jane replied handing over the file to Korsak. "Looks like strangulation with some kind of material but Maura doesn't have a match yet. She ruled out hands. The eyes were post mortem and doesn't appear to be for organ transplant purposes. She says there is too much tissue damage for that. The lab is trying to narrow down the instrument used to make the cuts."

"We have a BOLO out on her car," Korsak said. "At this point we still have the last person to see her was her mother at the end of their dinner. From the cell phone logs it looks like the last call she was on was from Murphy."

"He is still in New York," Frost said as he re-joined the two partners. "He is flying back to Boston later this evening. He will be here for questioning first thing tomorrow."

"We were already working on trying to confirm his travel arrangements to see if he was out of town during our time frame," Korsak said. "We should have that information before we speak with him in the morning."

She paused to look at the murder board again. "That leaves the ViCAP hits."

Korsak pointed over to the large case file boxes that were sitting off to the side of his desk. "There's a lot of material to get through," he answered with a sigh.

"Any of those cases involve sexual assault?" Jane asked. If yes then that could possibly be enough of a deviation to dismiss the previous cases as being relevant now.

"Neither of them," was Korsak's reply. "Jane I've looked at the summations of the cases and I have to say they both appear to be very close in detail to what we are looking at now. I don't think we can dismiss this. Especially with the link to the dates."

Jane looked at the boxes and knew she was going to have to go through all of the papers to help get a better understanding of those cases to be able to compare them to this new one. She knew she would soon find herself buried in those case files.

"Who was the convicted suspect?" she asked still not recalling any case from ten years ago involving victims having their eyes cut out.

"David Michael Pelton," Korsak answered. "Plead guilty to two counts of first degree murder."

Jane thought for a minute. She had been trying to remember if she ever heard anything about either of the two cases from 2002. Even hearing the name didn't help her remember anything. "Even with the name,' she said looking at Korsak, "I just don't recall anything. Do you?"

Korsak shook his head. He had been in Homicide in 2002 but as he had gone through some of the summaries from ViCAP he didn't recall the two cases. It wasn't unusual. Back then most detective teams worked independent of the division and if you weren't the assigned detective you really didn't pay much attention to a case unless it received unusual press attention. "No," he answered. "But then again, Jennings never really shared too many details of any of his investigations with other detectives."

Jane and Korsak exchanged a look but neither made another comment for a few moments. "Let's try to get in front of this as I think we all agree that Pelton is somehow tied our case," she finally said. "We are going to need a list of all his recent visitors, a list of recent correspondents as well as anything the prison has flagged as questionable content in any of his interactions."

Frost nodded and jotted down a note. "I'll contact Cedar Junction and request the information."

"Actually," Jane said and turned to Korsak. "I think we may need your contact for this."

Korsak knew immediately what Jane was thinking. "Completely off the record?" he stated more than asked.

While Jane nodded in agreement Frost couldn't help but look confused. "Can I ask why?"

Jane turned to Frost. "If Pelton is working with someone on the outside we don't need him to know that we've made the connection between his case and this one. This morning was too easy. Someone went out of their to make sure Allyson was found. If Pelton is involved with this it may be for either attention or an attempt to try to challenge his conviction. Either way, if he gets wind that we are looking into him it could be exactly what he wants."

"It's virtually impossible to keep something quiet in a prison," Korsak finished Jane's explanation. "The minute we make an official inquiry into visitors and correspondents for Pelton that will get back to him. That doesn't need to happen just yet."

Frost now got what they were worried about. "So your guy…"

"Can get us some information without it getting out that we have asked yet," Vince answered.

"Alright," Jane said. "Get in touch with your guy. After that, why don't you and Frost go check out Allyson's office and then try to speak with some of her friends."

"I take it you are going to go through these?" Korsak asked looking over at the boxed case files.

Not hiding her displeasure at the sheer volume of papers she knew were about to take over her life she nodded. "I'll go through these and see if there is anything that might give us an idea about what exactly is going on."

Frost and Korsak nodded and certainly didn't envy Jane's task. Korsak went to go call his contact at Cedar Junction and Frost went to see if any of the cell phone tower information was available yet. Jane turned and looked at the case file boxes stacked in front of Vince's desk. She needed to go through the files some place where she wouldn't get interrupted and somewhere she could spread out all the papers. Jane was heading home.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_June 2003_

_Jane rode the elevator up to the fifth floor. She couldn't believe she was going to be working in homicide for the summer and with Andrew Jennings of all people. He had the reputation of being the best detective on the force. She had met him a few times in passing, she'd worked the perimeter of a few of his crime scenes when she was on patrol, but never really had the chance to interact with him one on one before today._

_Admittedly, she was nervous. She was a rookie detective after all and she really wanted to make a good impression on Jennings. Her dream was to become a homicide detective at some point and she just knew if she could prove herself to Jennings during her extended rotation this summer that it would definitely help her down the road when she was ready to make a permanent move to the department._

_Her shift was to start at 8 am but her eagerness and her nerves found her riding up in the elevator at just after 7 am. She decided it was better to be early than right on time or worse- late. She felt bad that Jackson had broken his leg. She never liked to hear when any cop was injured in the line of duty. But his injury had given her this opportunity and she wanted to make the most of it._

_She hoped Jennings didn't mind being saddled with a rookie rotation. If he wasn't willing to work with her the summer could prove to be a long and difficult one. This thought made her hands sweat a little and as the elevator doors opened she quickly wiped the palms of her hands off on her pant leg. She stepped off the elevator and headed towards the cluster of cubicles that lurked just down the hallway._

"_Jane Rizzoli," she heard her name before she could register who exactly had said it. Looking around the area appeared to be empty but she finally saw someone sitting at a cubicle to the far left of the room._

"_Yes," she answered not quite sure if the person she spotted was who had called out her name._

"_Jane Rizzoli," she heard the voice say again. "28 years old. Finished tops in her class at the academy. Decorated three times for meritorious service as a patrol officer. Scored the second highest mark on the detective exam in Boston PD history. Firearm qualifications second only to….well me. And an obstacle course time that would make any cop jealous."_

_The voice reciting some of Jane's resume did in fact belong to the person sitting in the far left cubicle. As he spoke from memory, he turned in his chair towards her as she walked up to approach the infamous Andrew Jennings._

"_Detective," she said as she approached and put her hand out to greet him._

_Jennings stayed seated and did not take Jane's offered hand. "Have a seat Rizzoli," he said nodding towards the empty chair to his right._

_Jane didn't know how to interpret his refusal to shake her hand so she immediately took it as a sign of his displeasure. She was growing convinced that he was not going to be happy about having to work with her for the summer._

"_Are you always this early for your shifts?" he asked._

_Jane still couldn't read him but answered truthfully. "No. I just didn't want to be a jerk and show up right on time on my first day."_

_Jennings kept his glare on her as she took a seat in the chair and appeared to wait for further questioning. He was quiet for several minutes and Jane didn't attempt to break the silence. Instead, she just sat in the chair and waited for his next comment or reaction._

"_We've met before," he finally said after an almost painfully quiet three minutes had passed._

_Jane nodded. "I've worked the perimeter on three of your crime scenes," she answered._

_He raised an eyebrow and didn't hide that he was a little impressed that she knew the number. "Well," he said and straightened up in his chair. "you aren't on the perimeter anymore." He paused and then finally extended Jane a smile. "Welcome to homicide."_

_Jane released a breath she hadn't quite realized she had been holding. Maybe this summer wasn't going to be bad after all._

R&I

"Jane?" Maura called out as she entered the apartment. She had a pizza box in one hand and her purse and keys in the other. She had knocked on Jane's door twice but didn't receive an answer and had to resort to using her key.

She found her friend exactly as she had expected to find her. Jane was camped out on the floor of her living room surrounded by files, photos and papers that were spread out everywhere. The floor, the coffee table, the couch and even her lap had something taking up space. She had watched Jane go through old case file boxes before. This, she knew, was part of Jane's routine.

"I brought pizza," she said as she walked through the living room carefully maneuvering around the papers and piles so as not to disturb Jane's sorting. Jo managed to appear from nowhere, or more likely from Jane's bedroom considering the condition of the living room, and Maura smiled down at the dog. Entering into the kitchen she put down the pizza box and spent a few moments petting and playing with the dog. She then turned to talk with the detective.

Jane, who was sitting on the floor was her legs tucked beneath herself, looked up to greet her friend. "Pizza?" she asked with a smile. When Maura had sent a text saying she was coming over and would stop for food Jane was a little concerned it would be salad or an organic meal.

"I can be flexible," Maura replied with a smile. "You haven't eaten anything yet today so I knew the last thing you would want as your only meal was a salad." Jane smiled and was about to say something but Maura continued. "Even though at this time of night the consumption of such greasy food is certainly not the healthiest option available to you."

"Maura," Jane sighed. "I'm up to my eyeballs in ten year old case files. Please don't give me a guilt trip about my eating habits right now. You can feed me green things for lunch tomorrow to make up for the pizza I'm about to devour tonight." Jane moved to get up off the floor and join Maura in the kitchen.

Maura smirked at the whining tone coming from Jane. "I'll hold you to that."

Jane returned Maura's smile, "I know you will."

"Making any progress?" Maura asked indicating to the 'mess' that had overtaken Jane's living room.

"Sort of," Jane sighed as she pulled down two plates from the cupboard. She opened the pizza box and put a slice on each plate being careful to pull Maura's from her half and her own from the better half of the pie. She pushed a plate over towards Maura. "Sorry, I seem to have lost my living room. It might be better if we ate in here."

Maura nodded and moved over to one of the barstools at Jane's breakfast bar. "That's alright." As she got settled Jane had reached into the fridge for two bottles of water and then joined the ME on the stool beside her. "So, have you found anything that might help you with your current case?"

Jane sighed. "Nothing the screams what these cases have to do with this current case but I also haven't found anything that would rule out a connection."

"So you do think Allyson Montgomery's death is linked to those cases," Maura said. It was more of a statement than a question. She was never comfortable at making guesses or assumptions about anything but she was always fascinated to watch Jane work through a case. Her instincts and abilities to interpret nuances and clues were always rather impressive.

"I can't pinpoint the exact link yet but yes I think these cases are related." Jane answered as she finished a slice of pizza. "The cause of death is the same. The ease of finding the victim is the same. And I certainly can't dismiss the dates. Ten years to the day was already more than enough to convince me that they are connected."

"But the man who committed the earlier murders was convicted and is in jail, correct?" Maura asked wondering how someone in jail could be linked to a their current case.

"The suspect, David Pelton, plead guilty and is in prison," Jane answered. "But he could easily be communicating with someone on the outside. He could be having someone do this for him."

"Why would he do that?" Maura asked as she finished her slice of pizza.

Jane pulled another slice for each of them from the box. "That's what I don't know yet. He could be trying to make it appear as if he is innocent of the original crimes. He could trying to finish what he started ten years ago." There were several possibilities and truth be told Jane had not found one thing to give her any hint at a motive. "Or he might not have any knowledge of what is going on and someone out there is merely trying to recreate what he did 10 years ago."

"A copycat?" Maura asked and Jane merely shrugged her shoulders indicating that she just didn't know what was going on with the two cases at this point. "Are you looking into Pelton's interactions and correspondence from prison?" Maura asked.

"Korsak is checking unofficially for right now," Jane answered. She noticed the same confused look on Maura's face that Frost had. "If he is behind this we don't want to tip him off that we have connected our victim to his past crimes. That might just be exactly what he wants. Korsak has a good contact inside the prison so we are hoping to get an idea of visitors or communication concerns without it getting out that we are asking."

Maura nodded her understanding. "That makes sense. If he's looking for attention and learns you made an official inquiry he will believe what he is trying to do is working."

Jane nodded and leaned onto the breakfast bar on her elbows. "I just don't want that yet. Especially considering there was a second victim in the Pelton case."

Maura looked at Jane. "You think there will be another victim?"

"That's what I'm afraid of," Jane admitted. "Pelton didn't stop at one victim in 2002. In fact, from what I can tell so far from these files, Pelton wasn't going stop after the second victim either. He just got caught before there could be a third."

Just based on the interview notes Jane had read, Pelton was a disturbed individual. As Jane read through several interview transcripts, Pelton mentioned on several occasions what upset him the most about being in custody was that he wasn't able to 'finish' what he started. Unfortunately, each time he was pressed to explain what he was trying to finish, Pelton would refuse to answer that question.

"When was the second…" Maura started.

"Two weeks," Jane answered. "The second victim was found two weeks after they found the first one. If this is a copycat situation then we may only have two weeks to stop another murder."

Both women were quiet for a few moments. Each looking out into Jane's living room at all of the piles of reports, photos and files. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Maura asked.

Jane turned and smiled at her friend. She was always grateful that Maura wanted to help. "Would you mind taking a look at the medical reports and forensic labs from the 2002 cases? Perhaps compare what was found in 2002 to what we have now? I don't know if it will show anything new but maybe you can find a connection somehow."

"Of course I wouldn't mind," Maura said. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for Jane. "I'll look over anything if you think it will help."

R&I

They finished their pizza and talked about non work topics for a little while. Jane had needed a break from the piles of papers that had overtaken her apartment and she really couldn't have thought of a better person to enjoy that break with than Maura. As that thought crossed her mind she couldn't help but think back to their conversation at the Robber from a few days before.

Jane hated that Maura had seemed upset that night. Actually she couldn't stand ever seeing Maura upset. She always felt this strong need to protect Maura. Not just physically from harm. But emotionally protect her as well. As far as Jane was concerned Maura had been through enough sadness and upset in her life. Although she knew Maura was a strong woman, stronger than most people gave her credit for, Jane could never rid herself of the instinct to shield Maura from any source of harm.

Jane didn't like hearing that Maura was feeling lonely or that she felt like she was alone. As long as Jane had anything to say about it, Maura would never be alone. She knew what Maura was referring to at the Robber. She knew Maura meant a relationship when she talked about being alone. But Jane wasn't always ready to think about Maura and relationships.

If she was completely honest with herself, Jane had to admit that she didn't like the idea of Maura 'being' with anyone else. She wouldn't let herself get to the point where she would admit her feelings leaned towards jealousy but she was aware that it was something very close to that. Dangerously close to that. And thoughts of that nature were never something Jane was ever real proud to admit she had.

It was a dilemma Jane tried not to spend too much of her time thinking about. The few times she did try to work herself through ideas about the possibility of Maura finding someone else she wanted to spend time with just managed to upset her. Despite knowing that it was completely selfish and entirely unfair, she just didn't want to share Maura with anyone else.

Not only that but as far as Jane was concerned no one was good enough for Maura. Of the ones Maura had attempted to 'date' not one of them truly deserved to spend time with someone so completely amazing. Not any of the pathetic line of losers Maura's mother had tried arranging as blind dates. And certainly not the colossal mistakes Maura had found on her own. Jane gently shook her head as the images of guys like Stuckey, Ian and the near catastrophic disaster Rockman had been raced through her mind. Maura clearly could not be trusted to judge the character of any potential suitor in her life.

"What are you thinking about?" Maura asked not sure why Jane had gone suddenly quiet and also unable to interpret the expression on her friend's face.

Hearing Maura's voice pulled Jane from her thoughts. "Oh, sorry," she said not intending to have gone that deep in thought.

"That's alright," Maura answered. "But what were you just thinking about?" Maura really couldn't read the expression on Jane's face.

Jane wasn't exactly sure how to answer Maura. She didn't want to remind Maura that she seemed upset the other night or that she was questioning Maura's character judgement. She also never wanted to put a voice behind her thoughts of wanting to keep Maura all to herself as she was just never really ready to completely acknowledge that little piece of information. But she knew she had to tell Maura something and before she even really had a chance to think of a response she heard herself answering Maura.

"I was wondering if you would like to go somewhere with me on Friday," she answered. Or more accurately she heard herself answer. But what she heard herself saying just seemed to confuse her.

Maura smiled at Jane. "Where?" she asked wondering what Jane had wanted to do. Normally Fridays were their movie nights if they weren't working so the idea of doing something other than a movie intrigued her. And the fact that she would be doing anything with Jane excited her.

Where was an excellent question for Jane to answer but since she hadn't even planned on asking that in the first place she had absolutely no clue what that answer was supposed to be. Once again she heard herself offering up an answer without really knowing what it was she was going to say.

"We always seem to order take out and watch a movie on Fridays. Not that I mind that. I don't. But I was wondering if you would be up for doing something different." She had no idea what that 'something different' would be but since this whole conversation wasn't anything she had planned she figured she would just roll with it.

"Well," Maura answered quickly, "I'm always up for trying something new. What did you have in mind?"

Jane knew she had walked right into that one. Yet another good question from her genius of a best friend. "I'd like to surprise you," she again heard herself say. "That is if you don't mind," she added quickly. She was scrambling and thought maybe the notion of a surprise would be just enough to get Maura to stop asking questions she was sure she didn't have answers for.

Jane looked at Maura and was now scared she had managed to say all the wrong things. One minute she had been thinking about trying to cheer up her best friend and somehow she found herself in the midst of trying to get Maura to agree to some sort of mystery outing. But the look she saw wash across Maura's face relaxed her immediately. She saw the smile she wanted to return. The one that reached Maura's eyes.

"I wouldn't mind at all," Maura answered. "We can do whatever it is you want."

"Great," Jane replied. Her relief was temporary as the reality of what she had just gotten herself into now settled over her. Masking she panic she simply smiled at the ME and grabbed the last slice of pizza. She needed to figure out what exactly it was she wanted to do on Friday night.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Jane and Frost spent an hour talking to Allyson Montgomery's boyfriend, Curtis Murphy, in the interview room. An hour that found them only marginally closer to any kind of lead in the case than before they started the interview. Murphy had been in New York for the two days prior to Allyson's death. He was at a work conference and was able to cite several hundred eyewitnesses to his presence at all of the presentations including the one in which he was the chief presenter.

Frost had confirmed his travel arrangements and several charges on his credit cards showed he had not left New York for any significant period of time. Murphy was immediately dismissed as a suspect. Friends and family had already stated that Allyson and Curtis' relationship seemed to be on solid ground and during her interview Murphy confirmed that he had been planning on proposing to Montgomery after his return from New York. He even showed them the engagement ring.

What they were able to get from Murphy revolved around Montgomery's timeline. Cell phone records showed a call from Murphy at 9:55 pm. It had only lasted about 10 minutes. According to Murphy, Montgomery was driving home from having dinner with her mother while she was talking with him on the phone. He was supposed to call her at 9:45 but he was on another call that ran long. When he did reach her she was already driving home.

He had planned on talking with her during her entire drive back to the apartment but their call was interrupted when Allyson stated that she was getting another call and it was her mother. Their call ended at 10:05 pm with Allyson promising to send a text message saying goodnight later but he never received one. He said he was a little surprised but she had sounded tired when they talked so he just assumed she fell asleep once she got home. He sent a text at 10:30 pm to say good night but she never replied back.

While not much, this information gave Jane and Frost at least a few things to investigate. First, according the cell phone dump Allyson never received a call during her call with Murphy. For his part, Murphy could not offer any explanation as to why Allyson seemed to want to end their call. But when Jane confirmed that no call was logged into Allyson's phone Murphy admitted that now it did seem like she ended the call quite swiftly. When Jane pushed for a little more detail, Murphy said that normally when Allyson's mom or anyone else beeped in if they were talking Allyson would let the call go to voicemail and finish her call with him. If nothing else, this was the first noticeable change in Allyson's usual behavior on the evening.

The second piece of information the Murphy interview had provided had to do with Allyson's car. The search for Allyson's car had not yet produced the vehicle but Murphy was able to place Allyson in her car at 10:05 pm heading towards her apartment from the restaurant. Montgomery had told Murphy she was driving straight home. Frost asked about routes Allyson typically would drive attempting to pinpoint Boston traffic cameras he would start to search for the vehicle. If they were lucky he might be able to locate her car and follow it as best as they could with intersection cameras. They may not see what happened but maybe they could get a better idea about where to find the missing Nissan.

R&I

Jane headed into the Division One cafe to get coffee for herself and the guys while Frost went to the BRIC to start working on the traffic cameras. She still had several more reports from the ViCAP hits to go through that morning. She was also expecting the last of the autopsy results from Maura as well as possibly the comparisons for what material was used to strangle Montgomery and what instrument may have been used to cut out her eyes.

"Hey Janie," Angela greeted her daughter from behind the counter. "Coffee?" she asked.

Jane nodded, "Times three please," indicating to Angela she was getting some for the guys too.

"Give me just a second," Angela said and she went to work at preparing the coffees as she knew each detective took theirs.

Jane stepped away from the counter and sat down in a chair. She was already frustrated with the progress they weren't making on the case so far. They'd spent a day investigating and they really had nothing to show for it. Added to her case frustrations, Jane was still trying to figure out what she was going to do with Maura on Friday. So far she hadn't figured out the right thing as everything she thought of to that point just didn't feel right.

"Here you go," Angela said sliding Jane's cup over to her and setting down the two other cups in a carrier onto the table. Seeing Jane jump a little as she placed down the coffee Angela knew she had pulled Jane out of a deep thought. "How's the case coming?"

"It's not," Jane grumbled in frustration.

"Sorry," Angela offered sympathetically. She knew Jane didn't like it when leads or suspects in cases didn't quickly present themselves.

Jane gave a weak smile to her mother. "Thanks," she said. "We'll find something. I just wish we had more to go on right now."

Angela nodded and looked at her daughter. She had the feeling something more than the case was plaguing her thoughts. She stared at Jane for a minute waiting for Jane to tell her what else was on her mind. She knew better than to ask but if she waited long enough Jane might fill in the silence.

Jane felt her mother's eyes on her. "What?" she said more than asked.

"You tell me," Angela replied. "What?"

Jane couldn't help but snicker. The woman did know her well. "I'm just trying to figure something out," Jane finally said.

"Something with the case?" Angela asked but she didn't think so.

"No, not with the case," Jane admitted. "Something with Maura."

Angela had to fight herself not to break out into a hopeful smile. It was times like these she knew she had to extremely care about what she did and said around Jane. "What about Maura?" she tried to ask as innocently as she could.

"I sort of told Maura we were doing something on Friday but now I can't figure out what to do," Jan admitted sheepishly.

Angela looked a little confused not sure why Jane was having an issue thinking of something to do with Maura. They did everything together. She never thought coming up with an idea would pose an issue for Jane. "Is Friday some special occasion?" she asked hoping her curiosity didn't backfire.

Jane shook her head. "No, not really a special occasion," she answered. She wasn't sure she knew how to explain to Angela what she had wanted Friday night to be like.

"So then why does this seem to have you all twisted up?" Angela asked. "You never have issues finding things to do with Maura before."

Angela was fully aware of how Maura truly felt about Jane. She also had a strong idea that her daughter felt the same way but she was painfully aware that Jane was too stubborn to see what was right in front of her. Just as Maura, a woman she loved as if she was her own, was too scared to tell Jane the truth.

So, a routinely frustrated Angela had to sit back and watch two people she loved deprive themselves of something she believed they both wanted and something that would make them both very happy. It was hard for her not to say anything to Jane. But she knew she couldn't. One word from her about feelings or love or relationships with Maura before Jane was ready to see the truth would send the woman running for the hills. In a way Angela thought Maura was right to be a little scared.

As much as she wanted to just straighten out both women, she knew it wasn't really her place and that she was capable of doing more harm than good. And if that happened one, if not both, would never forgive her. So she remained quietly in the background going against her very nature. She only allowed herself the smallest of pushes. Subtle pushes for both of them whenever the moment presented itself.

She could be direct with Maura. But Angela had to be careful in what she said to Jane. And unexpected conversations with Jane about Maura always made her nervous. She didn't want to say the wrong thing.

"I'm not twisted up," Jane answered defensively. "It's just that Maura's been a little down lately and I wanted to do something to cheer her up."

Angela thought about what Jane had said. She, too, had noticed Maura was a little reserved and quiet lately. She thought it might have something to do with Jane so she hadn't wanted to say anything about it to her daughter. "Is she ok?" Angela asked wanting to make sure there wasn't something more going on with the ME that she wasn't aware of.

"She's fine, Ma," Jane tried to reassure her mother. "I don't think it's anything major but she's been a little down and I really want to do something that would cheer her up on Friday."

"And now you can't think of anything even after you asked her to do something with you?" Angela asked trying to follow Jane's thought process. "If you didn't have a plan why not just ask her what she might want to do?" Again, Angela was a little surprised Jane was struggling with coming up with something for Maura.

Jane shook her head. "I can't ask her that now," Jane sighed as she now wanted her mother to understand her dilemma. "I mean when I asked her I hadn't really planned on asking that but suddenly I was telling her we were going to do something Friday without really knowing what that something was and she got all excited about the idea. Then somehow I convinced her it was a surprise and because of that I can't ask her what she wants to do otherwise she won't think I planned a surprise and she seemed really happy that I had planned something so now I have to come up with something really good because the last thing I want to do is disappoint her." Jane felt herself rambling but was pretty sure her mother was keeping up with what the issue was.

"And you really can't think of anything?" Angela asked. She was struggling not to break out in a huge smile at how adorable Jane was as she was rambling about wanting to make Maura happy.

"It's not that I can't think of anything," Jane insisted. "But so far everything I have thought of is either something we have already done or it just doesn't seem like it is good enough to do what I want it to do."

"And what exactly is it that you want this," and she paused catching herself about to use one of the taboo words she couldn't use, "outing to do?" Angela asked. She had almost let the 'date' word slip out. She needed to be more careful.

Jane was quiet for a moment. "I want to do something special for her," she finally answered. "We seem to always do the same things. Especially on Fridays. That's our movie night and all," she said looking to see if her mother was following her.

For Angela's part, she was and nodded to Jane letting her know she understood so far.

"Well," Jane continued, "it feels like we are in rut and I just think Maura deserves something different. Something that will let her know I don't take her or the time we spend together for granted. Something that will maybe show her how much she matters to me."

Angela was surprised to hear what Jane was saying. Not surprised that Jane felt that way just surprised Jane was saying something like that out loud to her. It was probably as close to an acknowledgment about feelings for Maura that Jane had ever spoken to her. Angela had to fight herself not to react or say something she wasn't supposed to.

"Well," Angela started. "I'm sorry but I don't have a magic answer for you." Jane looked like she was about to pout so Angela finished her thought. "I will say this however. Maura has always loved the things you two have done together. Even when you've forced her to do something childish she has always had a great time. I think it has a lot more to do with who she was spending her time with than what specifically she was doing. If you really want Maura to feel appreciated and special, I don't think you need to do something elaborate Jane. I just think you need to do something together. That's how you can show her she matters to you. Spend time with her." Angela knew she may have just said too much but in that moment she meant everything she just said.

Jane looked at her mother for a moment and then smiled. "Thanks Ma," she said standing up and grabbing the coffees for the guys. While it hadn't given her an answer exactly, something about the truth of what her mother just spoke had the wheels in Jane's head turning.

R&I

Jane stepped into the BRIC to give Frost his coffee and check in. He was running the traffic camera queries but hadn't found anything yet. She then made her way towards her desk and saw that Korsak was sitting at his desk and on the phone. She walked over to his desk to hand him his coffee. He was just finishing up with his phone call when she approached. Turning to look at Jane he greeted her.

"Thanks," he said accepting the much needed caffeine. "Get anything useful from Murphy?" He knew they hadn't felt like he was a suspect even before he came into the station.

"You haven't talked with Frost?" she asked surprised.

"No," he answered. "I've been on the phone with my guy at Cedar Junction."

Jane nodded. "We didn't get much but Frost is running plate recognition for her car," Jane answered. "She was in it at 10:05 pm heading home before Murphy got off the phone with her. Frost thinks he can maybe find her car on one of two possible routes she would have driven."

"That's something anyway," Korsak said. "I'd like to find that Nissan."

Jane nodded in agreement. "How about you? What did your guy say?"

He sighed before answering which told Jane a lot. "Not much I'm afraid," Korsak admitted.

"Nothing flagged for Pelton?" Jane asked.

"Not nothing exactly," Korsak replied. "But also not exactly what I was hoping."

Jane took her seat and spun herself so she was facing Vince. He seemed willing to wait for her to get settled before he filled her in on what his contact inside Walpole had found out for him. "So, what did you get told?" she asked.

"According to my guy," he started, "Pelton hasn't had a visitor in the last two months."

Jane groaned. She had been hoping that Pelton had some recent visitors or communications that they could check out. "No one? What about letters or phone calls?"

"Same thing," he answered. "It seems as if all contact with Pelton stopped around the same time. No calls out and no mail in or out for just over two months."

That wasn't going to be very helpful and Jane knew it. "You said 'not nothing exactly'. So what did you get?"

"Prior to the two months of silence, it looks like Pelton had one regular visitor as well as being a pretty frequent correspondent," Korsak answered. "It also appears that during those interactions, the prison did flagged several letters and a few phone calls as containing questionable content."

"How questionable?" Jane asked.

"According to my source," Korsak said, "some of his written letters have contained 'odd' phrases that the prison believed was code for something."

"Did they happen to find them odd enough to record the contents?" Jane asked now hopeful. If Pelton was communicating with someone on the outside in a deliberate code that may hold some answers to what this is all about. Even if the communications had stopped a few months ago.

"Yes," Korsak answered. "My guy says there is a pretty significant file on Pelton. Excerpts from both letters and phone calls. He is going to try to get us a sampling from the file but he can't guarantee he can get to it. If he can he will have something in the next day or so."

"Do we at least have a name to look into?" Jane asked hopeful now for the first time since the case started. Despite the two months of apparent silence this could be their first tangible lead.

"That's the thing," Korsak replied. "He has a name. But I ran it and it doesn't come back as valid."

Jane frowned. "A fake ID?" she asked knowing all prison visitors had to show photo ID to be admitted.

"It must be. I can't find a DMV record, social, address or anything that confirms who this person is" he answered. "I mean, Frost is better with these things than I am so maybe he will have some luck but I can't find any electronic record of the name."

"What name were you given?" Jane asked.

"Walter Stills," answers Korsak.

Jane shook her head indicating that the name didn't mean anything to her. "I haven't come across that name in any of these files yet. Where were the outbound letters being sent?" she asked. It wouldn't be the worst thing if the name was fraudulent if they could get an address or some place to look into or search. Names didn't matter nearly as much as an actual person did.

"A PO Box," Korsak said.

"A post office PO Box?" she asked knowing this would matter greatly in terms of ease of access to records.

Korsak shook his head. "No. It's a private mailbox and shipping company." He knew what that meant too. Private companies always required search warrants before giving out any information about their customers and rented mailboxes. US Postal boxes were a little easier. They could usually get at least the rental application information without a warrant.

"Great," she sighed. "We are nowhere near the search warrant stage yet."

They just didn't have a whole lot to go on for this case. Frost was still looking at traffic cam video for Montgomery's car which they had not yet found. They were still waiting for Montgomery's cell phone tower ping records which might help in locating the car. Korsak's contact at Cedar Junction had given them a name which appeared to be fraudulent and on top of that contact with Pelton had stopped two months ago. All questions and no answers. Not what they wanted to be looking at this early in the case.

"How is the case file review coming?" he asked hoping maybe Jane had found something from the files of the ViCAP hits.

Jane leaned back in her chair and looked at Korsak. "The files are meticulous. There certainly was not a lack of evidence in what I looked at and from what I can see the case against Pelton was very compelling. I can see why he plead guilty. He was caught in the area that the two bodies had been dumped with rope that was similar to what was used to strangle both victims and they found a knife in his car that matched the type used to cut out the victims' eyes."

"Any mention of an accomplice or suspicions of a second person involved?" Korsak asked.

"Not that I have found yet," Jane answered. "Although I still have a few reports to get through."

"I think we should start looking into Pelton's past. His family members or known associates," he said.

"At this point it can't hurt," Jane admitted. "What are you thinking?"

"If it looks like he did the original murders," Korsak started, "and he is tucked away in Cedar Junction without contact from anyone in the last two months, Jane maybe we are looking at some sort of copycat."

Jane nodded. The thought occurred to her as well. Especially considering they hadn't found anything in Allyson Montgomery's life to indicate that whoever killed her knew her. "Perhaps," Jane said. "Or this Walter Stills, whoever he really turns out to be, is finishing the work Pelton started ten years ago. Maybe the sudden silence between them was because Stills had what he needed to do Pelton's bidding and was just waiting for the right date to roll around."

"That's certainly possible," Korsak admitted. He had a random thought and had to ask. "Any of those files mention what Pelton did with the eyes?"

Jane shook her head. "I've been trying to find that out too. But from what I can see the eyes from the first two victims were never recovered and Pelton has never answered that question." A part of Jane didn't want to know what he had done with them.

"I'll check with the mailbox company. I doubt they will show us the rental agreement without a warrant but they may tell us if the box is still active," Korsak offered up. Maybe they would get lucky and Stills continues to use the box.

"I'll finish the case file review and see if there is any mention of an accomplice or second suspect. I haven't seen Stills' name yet though. Frost can run Stills information through the system. You are right. He is better at that than you."

"Hey," he weakly defended. "I'm getting better at all this technology stuff."

Jane snickered but then nodded in agreement. He was able to use most of the systems and perform basic searches. "Yeah, you are."

They both sat quietly for a minute before Korsak spoke again. "Jane," he started slowly but she cut him off.

"I know," she said answering his unspoken thought. "We should probably do that too."

She turned away from him as she said it. She knew he would offer to make the call. Just as she knew she wouldn't.

"I'll try to track him down," was all Korsak said as he returned to the files on his desk. He would wait until Jane headed down to check on the pending lab reports before placing a call to Andrew Jennings.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_June 2003_

_It hadn't taken long for Jane to catch her first homicide with Jennings. In fact, they got a new case on her second day of working with him. Her first day had passed without incident. Jennings appeared willing to take on a rookie for a rotation and he seemed like a nice enough guy. He spent the day showing Jane around the bullpen, the communication center and a tour of the morgue. _

_He hadn't seemed to be bothered by being partnered with a female either. In fact, outside of the close scrutiny Jane felt he paid to her when they stopped to briefly observe an autopsy, he had treated her more like a veteran than a rookie. The fact that she didn't get queasy or look away during their time in the lab seemed to impress Jennings._

_The day ended with a trip to the hospital to visit his partner. Jackson was set to have surgery on his leg the next day and Jennings had wanted to check up on him. Jane was surprised to be included in the trip but Jennings later said Jackson had wanted to meet her to make sure she was as good as her reputation although Jane wasn't quite sure what was meant by that. _

_They had a good conversation and in the end Jackson made her promise to watch his partner's back only subtly reminding her she was a temporary fill in. She promised to do her very best. Then he then warned Jane not to let Jennings do all the driving. Jane had already gotten an idea about what Jackson was trying to imply by the drive over to the hospital. From what she could tell Jennings apparently assumed traffic laws were optional for detectives._

_The homicide call came in early on her second day. They both had just finished a staff meeting when Jennings let Jane know they had to respond to a crime scene. As they drove towards the scene she couldn't figure out what made her more nervous: Jennings' driving or getting her first homicide. As she tried not to count the increasing number of moving violations accrued by Jennings Jane tried to concentrate on what she needed to do once she got to the scene. _

_She was excited and she knew she shouldn't be. After all she was responding to a possible homicide. But she couldn't help it. It was her first homicide as a detective and not a patrol officer on crowd control. And she was going to be working the investigation with the best homicide detective on the force. The excitement she felt just couldn't be helped. And if she was honest with herself she was just hoping she could contain it and not make a fool of herself at her first crime scene._

_Part of Jane had hoped that Jennings would have talked with her about what he was expecting from her on scene or how he preferred to go about a case. Instead, the drive was oddly silent and Jane wondered if he was quiet because he wanted to evaluate her behavior once they got there. That thought made her even more nervous as she really wanted to make a good impression with the detective. _

_Jane waited for Andrew to open his car door before she did the same. She was desperately trying not to seem too eager. But once out of the car, she started to immediately walk towards the crowd of officers and what appeared to be someone from the medical examiner's office._

"_Rizzoli," Andrew said in a tone that stopped Jane in her tracks._

_She turned to look at him wondering if she had already made a mistake. "Yeah?"_

"_Hold up a minute," he said and moved towards the front of the car but stopped and didn't approach Jane._

_Jane took the hint and headed back towards Jennings convinced she had either made a mistake or that he was going to brief her on what he wanted her to do. She was hoping for the latter as she hadn't wanted to have screwed up already._

_Once she was next to him she waited for him to talk. But he didn't say anything for a few moments. Finally, he broke the silence. "Turn and look around," he said. "What do you see?"_

_Jane looked back at the scene. "Three patrol officers are setting the perimeter. The ME's office is onsite. The body is…" she started listing what she saw._

_Jennings cut her off. "Do you have any initial thoughts about what happened here?" _

_Jane looked back towards where the body was and looked back at Jennings. "I'm not close enough to see the body yet," she pointed out not sure if that was what he was getting at._

"_Neither am I but I already have a few initial thoughts. Do you?" he asked. From the way he spoke Jane was sure that there was something that she was missing. She just didn't know what._

_She looked around trying to figure out what he had seen she was supposed to have noticed. The ME now appears to be examining the body but other than that she just didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Confused, she turned and looked at Jennings hoping he would tell her what she was clearly missing._

"_A homicide is like a puzzle," Jennings started quietly. "In the beginning you won't have any idea what the picture is supposed to look like. You will just have pieces to that puzzle. Occasionally, you will have a lot of them so putting them together and seeing the picture will be fairly easy. Most times, however, you won't have much to work with and no matter how hard you try you won't be able to figure out the puzzle simply because too many pieces are missing. _

"_As an investigator, it will be your job to find as many of those missing pieces as possible. Find enough and you will be able to piece it together and solve the crime. The hard part will always be finding those missing pieces._

"_The best place to start looking for those missing pieces is the initial crime scene. Each crime scene has a story to tell. Being able to understand that story will depend entirely upon your ability to pick up on details. Especially the small ones. The more you see, really see, the better you will understand the story and the easier it will be to find those missing pieces. _

"_Take your time and really take in the entire scene. Don't get so fixated on the victim you miss out on seeing what could be important details in the surroundings. The body isn't going anywhere. You will only have one chance to survey everything before the integrity of the scene breaks down. Don't waste that one chance." He looked at her and smiled hoping she understood what he was trying to teach her. "Now, look around. Really look around this time and tell me what you see."_

_Jane thought she understood what his point was so she turned around again and surveyed the entire crime scene. This time she didn't focus on where the victim was she looked at everything else. Taking it all in for a moment, she started to do as Jennings requested and described what she saw._

"_We're in a commercial area," she started. "This entire street holds small businesses but there doesn't appear to be any business that would be considered a high traffic draw," she paused checking to see if she was now looking at the right details._

"_Go on," he encouraged. _

"_The victim is about halfway down an alleyway," she continued. "From here it looks like the body was hidden by that dumpster." _

"_What does that tell you?" he asked._

"_Low foot traffic, blocked visibility," Jane recapped, "I would think that there may be a chance the victim could have gone undetected for some time."_

"_Good," Jennings said and smiled. "What else do you notice?"_

_Jane looked around again. "Besides the blocked visibility, lighting may play a factor here."_

"_Why do you say that?" he asked curious._

"_The alleyway doesn't have any streetlights and the closest nighttime light source is halfway down the street," Jane pointed out. "I would think that finding out our estimated time of death could tell us a lot."_

"_Why might time of death matter?" he asked._

"_It could factor into whether this is the original crime scene or a dump site. If time of death was at night, this most likely could be the original crime scene."_

"_Why?" he asked quietly._

"_It's quiet. Secluded. Poorly lit," she pointed out. Even with the squad cars and police tape there wasn't a big crowd of curious onlookers. "There's nothing here that would make me fear getting caught."_

_Jennings looked at Jane for a few moments and then smiled. "Nice Rizzoli," he said and then started to walk towards the victim. Jane took just a second to realize she had done good and then quickly followed after him._

R&I

Jane released a heavy sigh as she reviewed the papers in front of her. "Damn," she muttered.

"Jane," Maura said in a warning tone. She didn't even need to take her eyes off her computer screen to know Jane was just a few seconds away from uttering an even stronger string of curse words.

Jane didn't even need to look up from the report she was reviewing to knew Maura was stopping what was about to be a string of obscenities. "Sorry," she offered. Jane had stopped down at the lab hoping that Maura's reports would give them a new lead. This was not how she had wanted her Thursday morning to start off.

"I wish I had more for you," Maura said and finally did look over at Jane. She knew the reports were not what Jane was hoping for. The trace analysis work had failed to find anything of significance. Montgomery's tox scene came back clean. The review of her stomach contents matched what her mother had stated she ate at dinner.

The lab was able to identify the rope used to strangle her but it was a common household multi-purpose rope available in just about any store in Boston. Similarly, the lab was also able to identify the type of instrument that was used to remove Montgomery's eyes but just as similarly it was not necessarily helpful. A serrated blade which meant a knife but of an unknown type and length. Both the report on the rope and the knife would only really be helpful for comparison purposes which meant only after Jane was able to find either to compare it to.

"There's just nothing here that helps with identification," Jane said not hiding her frustration.

"I'm sorry," Maura offered up.

"Don't be," Jane said, "Maura it's not your fault. And don't think I don't know how much all of this will help us if we can find a suspect and make an arrest." She didn't want Maura to think she didn't appreciate all she had done to that point. "I was just hoping to find a missing puzzle piece."

"A what?" Maura asked not sure what Jane meant.

Jane absentmindedly flipped through the reports again. "A puzzle piece," she answered. Looking up from the file Maura had prepared for her Jane realized Maura didn't quite get what she meant. "Usually I have enough information about a case that I can figure out how the pieces all fit together to solve the puzzle. But right now, too many pieces are still missing and I'm not even sure what the picture is supposed to look like."

Maura considered what Jane said and thought she understood. "Was any of the information in the case files you went through helpful?"

"Not enough of it," Jane admitted. It had taken her almost two days to get through all the files, reports, interview recaps and evidence from the 2002 cases. "The case against Pelton was compelling. I can understand why he plead guilty. But I just didn't find much that will help me with my case.

"The 2002 cases are still our best lead right now," Jane added. "But that's not saying much. Korsak's prison contact was able to give us a name but so far that is a dead end. I never came across that name in any of the investigation recaps nor did I see any reference to the possibility of an accomplice. Frost is running Pelton's known acquaintances and family members to see if there is even a remote link to Allyson but he hasn't found anything yet. We can't even find her car." Jane was clearly frustrated.

Maura went to say something but Jane's phone buzzed an incoming message. She watched as Jane read the message and grew concerned at her reaction to it. Something in the message didn't sit well with the detective.

"Something wrong?" Maura asked not hiding the concern to her tone.

Jane was staring down at the message but looked up at Maura when she heard her speak. "Uh, it's just Korsak. He's made arrangements to have the original detective come in for a consult."

Maura remembered Jane's reaction a few days ago in regards to this detective. Something was bothering her then about this guy and it was clearly bothering her still. "Is that a problem?" she asked not sure what the issue was.

"There's a chance that he may be able to help fill in some missing pieces," Jane replied. "There wasn't much written in the reports on why Pelton chose the two victims that he killed. The motive was never really established and from what I can tell Pelton's never really said why he did it. Plus, there wasn't much time spent on victimology for the 2002 cases. If we can get an idea on how or why Pelton chose his victims that may help us understand why Allyson was targeted or who may be next."

Maura didn't miss the fact that Jane didn't answer whether having the original detective coming in for the consult was a problem. When Jane didn't want to talk about something she frequently reverted to avoidance. But something about Jane's reaction worried Maura enough try one more time.

"Jane," she started softly. "There's something about this detective that upsets you. Do you want to talk about it?"

Jane looked at Maura and saw the concern in her eyes. She didn't want Maura to worry about her but now was not exactly the best time to get into everything involving Jennings. "Maura," Jane started with a heavy sigh and shifted her eyes away. "Can we get into that another time?"

"Of course," Maura answered quickly. Maura knew Jane wasn't ready to discuss anything the minute she averted her eyes. "Just know that I am here for you if you ever need anything."

"I know that," Jane said as she let her eyes shift back up to Maura's. She knew she would tell Maura everything but now was just not the right time.

After a few moments of silence passed between them, Maura decided to shift gears to a new subject. Maybe she might catch Jane off guard. "So, what are we doing tomorrow night?"

The change of topic and the playfulness in Maura's tone was enough to put the smile back on Jane's face. While she was grateful to Maura for not pushing her to talk she wasn't grateful enough to tell her the surprise. "You'll find out tomorrow," was all she said. She had finally settled on an idea but she wasn't about to share it with the ME.

Maura couldn't stop the huff that escaped from her. She loved the idea that Jane was trying to surprise her. She still wasn't even sure why Jane seemed to be going to so much trouble but she had to admit the thought of having some mystery outing with Jane excited her. But it was also driving her crazy not to know what it was they would be doing. "Jane," Maura said not holding back on the whine to her tone.

"What?" Jane answered back mockingly.

"You can't possible expect me to know what to wear if you won't tell me where we are going," Maura rationalized. That was a legitimate concern for her. She always tried to coordinate her outfits to be the appropriate attire given the objectives of the evening. Without knowing what Jane was planning she really didn't have any idea what she should wear.

The look on her best friend's face was simply adorable and priceless. "You just can't wait until tomorrow can you?"

"I need time to plan my wardrobe," Maura answered.

It was such a Maura answer that Jane just had to laugh. "You are just trying to get me to tell you what we are doing. Which, by the way, I will not do no matter what excuse you try to throw at me. But," she added as she again smiled at the pout that Maura gave, "I will tell you what the dress code is."

"Really?" Maura asked perking up. She thought maybe if she knew what she needed to wear she might be able to figure out the agenda.

"Really," Jane said. "I know how important your wardrobe is to you."

"So…?" Maura pressed.

"Sneakers," answered Jane as if that was a satisfactory answer.

"Sneakers?" Maura repeated not knowing what to do with that answer.

"Sneakers," Jane confirmed. She watched Maura try to process this and knew she needed to offer a little more help. "You can wear whatever you want but you will need your foot attire to be that of the athletic shoe variety."

"But…" Maura started.

Jane snickered. "But nothing," she said, "I intend for tomorrow night to be a surprise for you so please don't ask me anymore questions." She knew she had a hard time telling Maura no about anything so she was hoping to get her to stop the questions. "Just trust me."

"I do trust you," Maura replied with a smile.

She loved the fact Jane was trying to do something special for her. The night Jane asked her to do something Friday other than a movie and take out Maura had been so excited she found she couldn't sleep. Lying in bed she started to think maybe she should tell Jane how she felt about her. Maybe this 'outing' was meant to be a 'date' but by morning she had dismissed the thought as wishful thinking. They were friends. Best friends but just friends. She just wasn't convinced Jane felt more for her than friendship and she just couldn't risk what they had on only the hope of something more.

Jane's phone buzzed with another message. Reading this one made Jane smile. "Frost found something," she said to Maura.

As Jane was almost out the door she heard Maura utter something out loud.

"Sneakers!?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

_July 2003_

"_You did good in there Rizzoli," Jennings said as they exited the interview room. _

_Jane tried to suppress the smile she felt spreading across her face. "Thanks," she said. _

"_I mean it. That was a hard interview and it was your questioning of her that finally worked," he noted._

"_I'm just glad if I helped," Jane replied back._

"_You did more than help Jane," he reassured her. "You knew exactly what approach to take with her to get her to start talking." _

_They had been working together for six weeks now. In those six weeks Jane had learned more about how to be a detective than she ever thought she would. She knew how to be a cop. But being a detective meant being an investigator. And Jennings had spent the last six weeks helping Jane become an investigator._

_As they sat down in their desk chairs Andrew looked over at Jane. "Rizzoli, you need to understand that you have something that just can't be taught. Your ability to read people will turn into one of the best tools you have for solving cases. Every time you have someone in that room," and he nodded towards the interrogation room, "you will need to figure out how you can get them to talk._

"_You will be going into that room and asking a complete stranger to admit to you something that may very well be the worst thing they have ever done. To be successful with that, you will have to know what approach will work. Soft or hard. Sympathetic or indifferent. Understanding or indignant. Each person will be different and being able to tell which it needs to be," he paused, "well like I said that is something that can't be taught." _

_Jane understood what he meant and knew he was absolutely right. Before she could respond to his latest 'lesson' he spoke again. _

"_Let's handle the paperwork in the morning," he said looking at the stack that was on his desk. It had been a long week and the last thing he wanted to do was paperwork. "Care to join me for a drink?"_

_Jane was more than happy to skip the paperwork and the idea of getting a drink with her partner put a smile on her face. She knew their working together was only temporary but she was really coming to see Jennings as her partner. "Sure," she answered. "Where?"_

"_Ever been to the Dirty Robber?" he asked._

_Jane shook her head. She knew it was a cop bar but it mainly served detectives and not beat cops. Her usual bar had been The Tam. "I've heard of the Robber but haven't been there." She'd only been a detective for about two months and she still sometimes stuck to her old routines._

"_Come on," he said. "It's time to introduce you to the best bar in Boston."_

_By their second round, Jane was convinced the Robber would be her new go-to bar. She loved the ambience of the place and she felt quite comfortable to just sit, drink and enjoy the company of those around her._

"_So," Jennings said as Jane returned with their third and most likely final round. "Vice huh?"_

_They had a few conversations about what Jane's permanent assignment was going to be once the summer was over. "Yeah," she said. "Openings in Robbery and Vice. I'm fairly certain I've been tagged for Vice."_

_He smirked. "You are too good to waste on Hooker Round-up detail," he said looking at her. "But I can't say I blame them for it."_

_Jane felt herself almost blush at the compliment. "I can't say I'm looking forward to some of the outfits that are in my future but I won't mind a run in Vice. Truthfully I think the action will be better than in Robbery."_

_Nothing about working Robbery appealed to Jane. At least in Vice there would be action. Sure, she'd have to run sting operations and dress like a working girl but she would in the middle of all the action and that idea excited her._

_Jennings nodded. "Robbery is really the land of the soon to be retired." The division had a habit of collecting the older, injured and out of shape detectives as it was primarily a desk job. "You would really be wasted on an assignment like that."_

_Jennings had come to respect Jane's abilities. Her patrol record was impressive and so were all her tests and results. But she also had what couldn't be taught. She had cop instincts. She was smart, she read people well and she thought quickly on her feet. All traits which combined to make an excellent detective. _

_When he was first told he was going to take on a rookie after Jackson was hurt he wasn't pleased. Then he was told it would be Rizzoli and that changed his opinion. He had heard about her. He had even watched her tactical qualifications and how she handled the obstacle course. In truth, he saw a lot of himself in her and if he had to be saddled with a rookie he wanted it to be a rookie who had potential. And Rizzoli definitely had potential._

_He started to make a comment but his phone rang. "Jennings," he answered without looking at the caller ID. Jane couldn't help but notice Jennings' entire demeanor change as soon as he answered the call. His face seemed to flush and it was clear he did not want to be speaking to whomever was on the other end of the phone._

_As if remembering he wasn't alone he stood up and looked at Jane mouthing 'Excuse me' as he walked away from the table and towards the restrooms to continue the call. Jane's eyes followed him as he walked off. While she couldn't hear anything he was saying it was not a pleasant conversation. She had yet to see him lose his temper or even get rattled to that point of working with him but watching him as he handled the call he looked as if he was going to explode._

_After a few minutes he ended the call but instead of returning immediately to the table he went to the bar. Jane could tell he was ordering a drink which she found odd since there was still an unfinished beer at the table. As she watched the bartender poured out a shot of Jack and Jennings downed it immediately and nodded for the bartender to pour another. Which the bartender did and Jennings polished off just as quickly. He then removed some money from his wallet handing it over and nodded again for another shot. _

_This one he carried back over to the table but he barely waited until he had sat down before he finished off the shot and then chased it down with about half of his beer._

"_Everything alright?" she asked not sure if it was her place to even be asking but clearly the phone call had upset him._

_He was quiet for a minute and then answered. "Ex-wife," was all he said._

_Jane just nodded in sympathy. Apparently the divorce had not been amicable. "Sorry," she offered._

_He finished the remainder of his beer in one long swig and looked at Jane. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said. Not waiting for her response, he turned and left the bar._

_Jane sat watching him walk out of the bar still not exactly sure what had just happened._

R&I

"What do you got?" Jane asked as she walked into the BRIC. Frost was sitting at one of the desks and looked pleased with himself.

"It took longer than I thought it would," Frost admitted, "but I think I have an idea of where Allyson's Nissan might be."

Jane turned to watch the screens in the BRIC. "Where?"

"I finally found her car on one of the routes from the restaurant," he started. "I was able to track her through most of her drive until her made a turn."

"So you lost her?" Jane asked.

"Not exactly," Frost answered. "When she turned off we have the car making the right hand turn. Now, the very next intersection she would have driven through also has traffic cameras. So I should have been able to just follow her route. But she never made it to the intersection."

Jane watched as Frost replayed the footage of the Nissan taking a right hand turn and by following the timestamp of that right hand turn they should have seen the Nissan a matter of a few seconds but Frost was right. There was just nothing.

"I watched the intersection footage again. She didn't just do a U turn and go back. The car literally just disappeared." Frost said and hit a few buttons pulling up the video from each camera and played them split screen.

Jane watched again and sure enough the car didn't appear at the expected intersection. "What's on that block?"

Frost smiled. "There are public parking garages on both sides of that block."

"So her car may be parked in one of those garages," she said.

"Quite possibly," Frost answered with a smile.

"Quite possibly what?" Korsak asked as he entered the BRIC looking at the screen.

"We think we may know where Allyson's car might be," Frost answered and played the video for Korsak.

"We need to search both of those garages," Korsak said. Frost nodded and picked up the phone to get a few officers to help with the search.

Jane stared at the screen.

"What?" Korsak asked.

"Why on Earth would she be pulling into a parking garage at 10:23 pm?" Jane asked not averting her eyes from the screen.

"Four squads are going to meet us there and help with the search," Frost announced interrupting Jane's out loud thinking.

Jane turned to Frost. "Let's find the car but we may need to watch more footage to see if anyone else follows her in."

Frost nodded. "If we find the vehicle there may also be records or video of any vehicle that would have entered around the same time as Allyson."

Frost saved his files and went to get his jacket. Jane turned to Korsak, "You coming with us?"

Korsak nodded, "Yeah. This may be our first real break." He paused before adding a piece of information. "Jane," he started slowly, "Jennings was out of town but will be coming in late tomorrow afternoon."

Jane looked at him for just a second before heading out of the BRIC. "You'll need to handle that," she said never turning around.

"I figured as much," Korsak mumbled as he headed out to join the search.

Frost watched the exchange between the two and wondered again what had happened between Jane and Jennings. He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and headed to catch up with Jane. He knew the answer to that question would only come from Jane if, and only if, she decided he needed to know.

R&I

Upon arrival, Korsak took a team of four officers to one parking garage while Jane and Frost took two officers with them to the other. Each team had the description and license plate of the Nissan they were looking for. The detectives were all hopeful they would find the vehicle and hopefully further clues into what happened to Montgomery.

Twenty minutes into the search Jane's phone rang. 'Rizzoli," she answered.

"Got it," Korsak announced.

Jane smiled and turned to Frost and nodded. "We're headed over," she told Korsak.

"I've already called for the tow. I figure we can have the car processed at the station. Can you stop at the office and see if they have video footage?" he asked. "There are cameras all over the place."

"We'll check it out. Where are you?" she asked.

"Far east corner on the fifth level," Korsak answered.

Jane hung up and saw that Frost had already dismissed the two officers. "We need to see what surveillance footage the garage has. The car is on the fifth level."

Both detectives headed out of their garage and crossed the street heading to the garage office. Frost knocked on the door.

"Pay at the stations by the elevators or pay on your way out," came a voice from the other side of the door.

'Boston police," Frost corrected.

Jane heard a quick stirring and the door opened. The female looked at both Jane and Frost who had out their badges to help with the identification. Looking at them both the woman smiled. "Sorry. I get a lot of people who think they pay their ticket here. What can I do for you?"

"We need to know if you keep surveillance footage for entering and exiting vehicles and what footage you may have on each level," Frost stated.

The woman looked intrigued. "Why? What's going on?"

"We are investigating a homicide," Frost started.

"Oh my God! Someone's dead? Like in their car or something?" the woman asked suddenly a little freaked out. She had things happen in the garage all the time but mostly it was break-ins, drugs or sex in public. Never a dead body. She wasn't sure she wanted to deal with a dead person.

No," Frost assured the woman. "There's nobody here but we have found a car we have been looking for and we will be removing it from the garage." That seemed to calm the woman down. "But, we need to know if you have footage of that car entering this garage and what the driver may have done while here."

"Ok," she said and stood aside inviting the detectives into the office. "We have cameras on every level, in all the stairways and elevators plus at all entrances and exits. If the car was driven in here, we will have most of what the driver did before leaving."

Jane and Frost smiled. Finally, a break. "Will we be able to get copies of everything you have?" Jane asked.

The woman nodded her head. "We have a standing directive to allow law enforcement access to any requested footage," she said with a smile. "Do you know when the car got here?"

They knew Korsak hadn't searched the car for a parking ticket yet but they also knew the timeframe they needed. "Monday night. We will need footage from around 9 pm until around 6 am Tuesday morning," Frost answered wanting to see a decent cushion before Montgomery's car entered the garage and see footage up until they had found Montgomery's body in case the car might have been used during the commission of the crime.

"I can have that for you in about twenty minutes," answered the woman. "Do you want everything?"

"Yes, thank you," answered Jane.

"Give me twenty minutes. That size of a file I will need to use a flash drive. Is that alright?" the woman asked.

"That's just fine," answered Frost. "We'll stop by before we leave. And can you make sure our tow truck gets in and out without an issue?"

"Sure thing," she answered.

"Thanks," Frost said and the detectives went to go join Korsak at the vehicle.

R&I

Jane was just pulling her gloves on as she approached the driver side of the Nissan. She looked into the vehicle and didn't immediately see anything out of place. Korsak was on the other side and looking through the passenger window. Neither had attempted to open the car door.

"Vince?" Jane said more than asked.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I don't think we should."

Frost looked between the two detectives not quite sure what it was they were talking about but also not surprised that they seemed to be able to understand each other. When he realized neither was attempting to open a car door he finally understood their conversation better.

"Waiting?" he asked Jane.

Jane nodded. "This is our first break in this case and I certainly don't want to smudge a print on a door handle." Neither Jane nor Korsak seemed willing to risk altering the possible prints on the vehicle. Since there was no threat to anyone they could wait until the car was towed to the station and let the CSRU techs process the car before digging around.

"The tow will be here in a few minutes," Korsak pointed out.

"We are getting all the video footage from Monday night from 9 pm until we found the body Tuesday morning," Frost told Korsak. "I got a brief look at what they have and they do a good job covering the parking areas, entrances, exits, stairways and elevators. We should be able to see where Allyson goes after she parked the car."

All three detectives stepped away from the car and looked around. "Why here?" Jane asked. "Why here? At 10:30 at night? What brought her here?"

They all continued to look around. There didn't seem to anything in the surrounding area that would have been a draw that late at night. The few business that were within walking distance wouldn't have been opened at that time.

"I don't know," Frost said. None of them did.

"We are missing something," Jane stated. However she felt like she was stating the obvious. "She lies to her boyfriend about a phone call from her mother to get him off the phone and then she drives her car to a parking garage instead of going home."

"There's a lot we don't know about this case," Korsak pointed out. "Her stopping here is just another question to be answered."

"Frost?" Jane turned to her partner, "did you back trace her car to the restaurant once you found it?"

Frost shook his head. "No. It took a while to find her driving and once I did I simply followed her through the available cameras until she turned off here. What are you thinking?"

Jane looked around again. "I'm thinking this is an awfully odd place for her to make a stop. We need to see the video from the garage but I think we really need to back trace her to the restaurant if we can."

Korsak recognized that look. "What's your theory?" he asked Jane.

"Maybe she wasn't alone in the car when Murphy called her," Jane said.

"He did say she sounded tired," Frost said. "But according to her mother she was just fine."

"What if someone was waiting for her at the restaurant? Maybe she had to end the call with Murphy and maybe she was forced to drive here." Jane knew it was just a theory but it was at least something tangible they could look into.

The tow truck and the CSRU team arrived and started to prep the car for transport. Jane was just thankful they finally seemed to be getting somewhere.

R&I

Jane knew it was going to take CSRU a couple of hours to completely process Montgomery's car. Korsak was set to have a follow-up conversation with his contact inside Cedar Junction and was hoping to hear that he managed to get at least a sampling of some of Pelton's jailhouse communications. Frost was going to review the garage video footage to see what it held.

That left Jane some time head down and see if Maura was able to compare the wounds and weapons from the 2002 cases to their current case. She stopped on the main level and headed into the Division One cafe to get herself and Maura a beverage.

"Janie," Angela practically shouted her greeting.

"Ma," Jane said, "I'm standing right here. You don't need to shout."

Angela just smiled. "Hello to you too," she said. "Coffee?"

Jane nodded and smiled. "Tea for Maura, too, please." She moved out of the way and watched her mother get the drinks. As much as the woman could grate on Jane's nerves she was glad she got to see her every day and that they had a good relationship.

Jane couldn't help but think about Maura and her family struggles. The complications her biological parents brought could take forever to list. Jane knew Maura was currently trying not to focus on either one of them and Jane was happy to oblige in that respect. As for her parents, Maura loved her mother and father but from everything Jane had seen over the years they just weren't extremely close. Constance was trying and had made great strides but still it bothered Jane that Maura seemed to miss out on the day to day of having an actively involved family in her life.

Maura had the Rizzoli clan now. They all considered her family and Jane believed Maura felt the same towards them. But sadly, she knew that it wasn't enough to fix all the years of loneliness Jane knew were in Maura's past. How anyone could have Maura in their life and not see just how wonderful she was truly baffled Jane. Her parents just never seemed to take the time to truly get to know her and Jane felt that was a shame for everyone involved.

She thought about what they were going to be doing tomorrow night and she couldn't help the smile that broke out across her face.

"What are you so happy about?" Angela asked as she handed over coffee and tea to Jane. It wasn't often that Jane smiled the way that she was smiling.

"Just thinking about something," Jane answered vaguely. "Thanks for these."

"Thinking about Maura?" Angela asked with a smile then heard what she said. She panicked a little and covered quickly. "About tomorrow night I mean?"

Jane nodded, "I did manage to figure something out."

"So….." Angela pushed waiting to be told the big mystery.

"So not telling you," Jane replied back.

"And why not? I'm your mother. I feel I have the right to know," she pointed out. As far as she was concerned she had the right to put her nose in all her kids' lives.

"You can't keep a secret," Jane pointed out.

"You'd be surprised," Angela pointed out and again mentally smacked herself for saying anything. She knew she was getting too close to the edge on this topic and needed to retreat. Covering again she added. "I can keep the secrets that need to be kept."

"Sure Ma," Jane said dismissively. "But I still want everything to be a surprise for Maura so I am not taking any chances. I got Frost to cover for me if anything breaks in our case tomorrow and Korsak promised to take Maura and I both off the call sheet for tomorrow night."

"Fine, don't tell me. I don't really want to know," Angela tried a weak attempt at reverse psychology that had stopped working on Jane when she was about ten. Only the boys still fell for that now.

"You'll get all the details from Maura on Sunday at dinner I'm sure," Jane said determined not to fall for Angela's reverse psychology trick.

"I'd better get them from you on Saturday," Angela pointed out and to that Jane simply took her drinks and headed down to Maura's office. She had no plans on telling her mother anything but was pretty sure Maura would tell her before Sunday dinner.

R&I

Jane headed towards the ME's office with drinks in hand and was about to round the corner when she heard Maura's voice. It was Maura's telephone voice as opposed to her Chief ME voice so Jane knew she was talking on her cell phone and not to a lab tech or a criminalist.

"I have no idea what she has planned."

Jane heard Maura say. She smiled and guessed that it was Constance Maura was speaking with. The Isles matriarch now routinely checked in with her daughter at least once a week. Jane knew Constance was in Paris for a new installation and that it had been going quite well. According to Maura the critics were calling this new work Constance's best to date.

"No Mother, I don't know why I'm getting a mysterious night out but I'm certainly not complaining. I'm actually rather excited."

Jane was able to imagine the look that was most likely on Maura's face as she spoke to her mother. It made Jane feel good knowing that she was currently the source of that imagined smile.

"I'm sure Mother. I will not attempt to reschedule an evening with Harrison."

Jane had to stifle a laugh. Harrison must have been the name of the dweeb she had to rescue Maura from Monday night. Jane was surprised Constance was trying to push a second date but was equally proud that Maura appeared to be standing firm this time around.

Not wanting to listen in on Maura's entire conversation Jane made her presence known by leaning onto the open doorway and clearing her throat. Maura was sitting at her desk and in fact on her cell phone. When she looked up upon hearing the noise, Jane was right about the look on her face. It was that smile. The one that reached her eyes.

Over the years Jane had come to witness many looks and expressions from Maura. Maura was not nearly as stoic as Jane was when it came to facial expressions. Maura usually wore her emotions on her face. From happy to sad, from excited to tired, from frustrated to simply annoyed, Jane had seen them all. But of all her looks Jane's absolute favorite was _that_ smile. The one that lit up her whole face. It was always the look Jane wanted to see from Maura because it was the one that meant the woman was truly happy in that moment.

Seeing Jane Maura worked to end the call with her mother. "Jane just walked in," she said. "I need to go." She listened to whatever Constance was saying and then added, "I will. I promise. Bye." She turned her attention to Jane as she disconnected the call. "Please tell me one of those is tea and for me?"

"Of course," Jane said and handed over the tea to Maura as she made her way into the office. "So Constance wants you to try a second go around with the dweeb?" she couldn't help but call out what she overheard.

"Jane," Maura scolded. "He wasn't a 'dweeb' as you put it."

"Perhaps," Jane conceded. "But he certainly wasn't right for you." Jane snickered when she saw Maura nod in agreement.

"She means well but I will admit she doesn't have the slightest clue as to what I would be attracted to," Maura replied with a sigh. She knew her mother was just trying to help but she also knew she hadn't been honest with her mother about what- or more accurately who- it was that she really wanted.

She meant what she told Angela earlier in the week. She couldn't tell anyone else about how she felt about Jane before she told Jane herself. It didn't seem right. It was already bad enough that Angela knew. She wasn't going to add anyone else until she figured out a way to tell Jane. And she would do that as soon as she was sure telling Jane wouldn't result in losing Jane.

"And what exactly is it Dr. Isles that you do find attractive?" Jane asked playfully unable to resist the temptation to ask.

Maura realized where this conversation suddenly seemed to be heading. She felt herself start to panic slightly as she was in no way prepared for this especially when she would be unable to lie if Jane continued to ask questions.

"A sense of humor," she answered quickly. Which was absolutely true. She just managed to leave out the part that specified Jane's sense of humor which had been what made Maura first realize that she felt more for Jane than just friendship.

Jane was about to say something but Maura's office phone rang. "Dr. Isles," she said as she answered the phone and was truthfully grateful for the interruption. "No," Maura replied. "Don't finish processing those until I've seen the other results first. Thank you."

"You are clearly busy," Jane said as Maura hung up the line. As much as she wanted to just chat with Maura she knew Maura had a lot going on and she probably shouldn't linger for too long.

"No," Maura said quickly. "Well, I mean I am but not too busy to talk with you," she clarified.

Jane smiled, "I just wanted to see if you had a chance to compare the wounds and weapons from the 2002 cases to that of ours."

"The lab won't have anything official until tomorrow," Maura answered. "But it does appear that the rope recovered from Pelton's car in 2002 is consistent with the type of rope used to strangle Allyson. They hadn't processed enough about the knife for me to see any preliminary findings."

"Alright, I can get those reports tomorrow. CSRU is processing her car," Jane added with a hint of excitement.

"I heard you guys found it," Maura said. She knew that may help Jane with the case and was really their first break so far.

"Hopefully we get something. A print would be extremely helpful. Frost is reviewing the parking garage footage right now so we both think that there will some useful information from that as well." Jane was secretly hoping for a visual of someone with Allyson from the garage footage.

"I'll let you know if I see a preliminary on the blade wounds and comparisons today," Maura added as Jane was turning to head back upstairs.

Jane made it all the way to the door and turned to look at Maura. "A sense of humor, huh? Interesting. Not at all what I would have expected."

Maura thought for just a moment but then replied, "Attractions can be quite unexpected."

Both women seemed to stare at each other for just a few seconds longer than normal but eventually Jane turned and headed back up to the bullpen.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_August 2003_

"_Jane, I've got the next round," Jackson said as he looked across the table at her._

"_You never buy the beer," Jennings pointed out in a mock tone of complaint._

"_You're right," he said in jest, "I usually don't. But Jane managed to survive nine weeks of you and your driving. That has earned her a beer."_

"_Whatever," Andrew said in a huff. "My driving is not that bad."_

_Both Jane and Jackson took one look at each other and couldn't contain the laughter. "Andy," Jackson said, "go get us the beer." He handed Andrew money to cover the beers._

"_What am I?" Jennings asked. "Your personal servant?"_

_Jackson simply pointed down to the brace still on his leg and the crutches he still somewhat depended on to get around. He probably could have managed the beer run but it was clear to Jane that he was going to milk his injuries for as long as possible at his partner's expense. _

_Jennings scoffed at his partner but left to go secure another round. _

_The three had met up for a few drinks to celebrate the closure of the last case Jane was to work with Jennings. Jackson was returning to desk duty on Monday and Jane's spot in Vice was now open. She was set to report to her new Lieutenant the next morning. _

"_I mean it Jane," Jackson said in all seriousness. "You survived your time with him and that should be commended."_

_Jane smiled. "Outside of his driving, which is just God awful, he was great to work with," Jane acknowledged. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jennings had gone out of his way to teach Jane some of the nuances of being a detective._

"_He's a little set in his ways but he usually means well," Jackson said._

"_Will," Jane started, "I don't know if I've ever learned as much from anyone else as I've learned from him over these last few months. He really went out of his way to show me things I know will make me a better detective."_

_Jackson nodded, "He has a lot of respect for you." He looked over towards the bar to see that Andrew was still waiting to get their beers. "We talked a lot during the last few months and he has been quite impressed with you. He saw potential in you Jane. Otherwise he wouldn't have invested that kind of time in you."_

"_I don't know if I will ever be able to thank him for that time," she admitted. She had always held the man in high regard but that had been because of his reputation. After working with him for the last two months, she now respected him for who he was. She had been mentored by the best there was and she knew that she was the better for it._

_It had been an excellent two months. Jennings had been open, patient and insightful. She couldn't have asked for a better mentor. What could have been a long rotation if he hadn't embraced the idea of taking on a rookie had given Jane a distinct advantage heading into her permanent role in Vice._

_Andrew returned with what would be their last round on the night. After all three were given new drinks he looked at Jane. "Rizzoli," he sighed. "You are too good to be wasted in Vice."_

"_I don't know about that," Jane said modestly. _

"_I do," he shot back. "You have the ability to become an excellent homicide detective one day." He knew she wanted to one day find a permanent home in homicide. "I understand the way things work. I know you need to do your time in Vice. But some day you will end up where you belong."_

_Jane didn't quite know what to say. To have Jennings express such confidence and praise about her wasn't something she was ready for. Not knowing how to respond she quickly took a swig of her beer to mask the silence._

"_Andrew," she said when she felt her could get out the words. "I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you for everything you showed me these last few months. While I have always hated that the opportunity came at your expense," she turned and nodded to Will, "I hope I was able to make the most of it."_

"_You can thank me by earning your way back into this division," he answered._

"_I'll do the best I can," Jane promised. _

R&I

"Show us what you've got," Korsak said as he joined Jane in the BRIC after receiving Frost's page that there was something everyone needed to see.

Frost hit play and let the queued footage play on the center monitor. "Here's Allyson's Nissan entering the parking garage," Frost started to narrate the footage. Jane and Vince watched as Allyson pulled into the garage and approached the ticket machine. The garage had overview footage but also cameras in place to record the license plates of any car entering or exiting the garage. It was definitely her vehicle.

She received a ticket and the footage showed her pulling forward after the gate lifted. As the car was just about out of view on the overview camera Jane noticed something.

"Stop," she said. "Did you see that?" she asked and turned to Frost.

"I saw it," he confirmed. He had seen it for the first time just like Jane had.

Korsak however looked confused. "What am I missing?"

"Frost, play that back for him," Jane instructed and waited until Frost replayed the footage. "Vince, watch carefully in the rear window," Jane said. As the footage played again, Korsak saw it too.

"There!" he said having seen what Jane reacted to. "There's someone in the backseat of the car."

There was movement in the backseat of the Nissan as it pulled out of view from the entrance camera.

"What else do you have?" Jane asked somewhat hopeful now that they had seen a person other than Allyson Montgomery in her car.

Frost smiled, "A lot actually." He queued up the next overview shot and it was of the fifth parking level near where they found the Nissan. As Jane and Vince watched the Nissan come to a stop Jane realized that another vehicle was parked two spots over from where the Nissan pulled in.

"Frost?" Jane asked in anticipation.

"Just watch," Frost commented. All eyes shifted back to the screen.

The Nissan appeared to park and get turned off but then there was no movement for about 45 seconds. Then the driver side backseat door opened and a male exited the car. He then opened the driver's side door and pulled out an unresponsive Allyson Montgomery. The male proceeded to carry Allyson over to the other vehicle, another 4 door sedan, and place her inside the other car in the backseat. The male appears to lock the Nissan with the key fob and then got into the other car and drove away.

"Frost, tell me we have plates on that other car," Korsak said.

Frost pulled up a shot of the plates from the second car. Before either could ask he answered. "Stolen. Whoever this is wasn't smart enough to avoid this much video footage but did switch the plates on the car. These come back to a 2010 Dodge Caravan which clearly isn't this car. The plates were reported stolen from Meadow Glen Mall three weeks ago."

"Damn it," sighed Jane in frustration. "Can we at least figure out the make and model to get a BOLO out?"

Frost nodded, "Not sure of the year but that's a Chevy Malibu."

"Well, that's a start. We can search for stolen Malibu reports and check to see if any have been towed or impounded in the last two days," Vince noted.

"One last thing I was able to find," Frost said and pulled up another frozen image. It was a little blurry but definitely useable. Frost found an image of the male driver from one of the exit cameras.

"Nice," Jane said with a smile. "Looks like we have at least a visual on our prime suspect." She turned to both Frost and Korsak. "This may be our mysterious Walter Stills. Vince, I think we need to make that inquiry official now."

Korsak nodded. With a picture of their suspect they now needed a comparison and Cedar Junction would have a stored photo of the man who was David Pelton's most frequent visitor. "I'll make the call."

Finally, everyone felt like they were making some progress.

R&I

Jane tossed and turned trying to force herself to fall asleep. But sleep seemed to elude her. She had way too much going through her mind. She rolled onto her back and stared up at her ceiling. She absentmindedly rubbed the top of Jo's head as she thought about what her day was going to bring tomorrow.

First, she knew Andrew Jennings was coming into the station that afternoon. While Vince was set to handle the entire conversation she still felt a little on edge. She hadn't seen the man in seven years and she just wasn't quite sure what to expect. Seven years was a long time but after everything that happened Jane understood that sometimes time didn't always mend the wounds. Certain people and certain incidents would always just haunt her.

Aside from Jennings, what was really keeping Jane awake was Maura. Jane was nervous about her outing with Maura. She wanted everything to be perfect for the night. She had double checked on all the arrangement earlier that night and as far as she could tell everything was in place.

As she laid there she tried to figure out why she was so nervous about doing something with Maura. It was Maura. They did things together all the time. But somehow Jane felt that this outing was different. It hadn't started out that way but somehow this night out felt like it had turned into a date.

But did she want to date her best friend?

Jane wanted to make Maura happy. As she stared up at her ceiling she couldn't help let a small little truth drift through her thoughts. She wanted to be the reason Maura was happy. She had always known that. Deep down anyway. That knowledge always lurked in the same area of her brain that housed the understanding that she didn't want to see Maura with anyone else. That she really didn't want to share her.

But being aware of that truth and fully understanding it were two completely different things. She usually didn't let herself even entertain the idea of what it all could mean. Jane was brave about a lot of things in her life. She faced killers and evil every single day. She had been brought to the brink of her own demise on several occasions. But none of that could come even close to the fear she felt when it came to admitting she wanted more from Maura than friendship.

But did Maura want more from Jane?

Unable to stop her mind from wandering, Jane entertained that notion for a moment. There were times where she thought Maua wanted more. It was subtle but it was there. Looks that lingered for just a second longer than they needed to. Contact that neither felt the need to break. Jane had lost count of the nights spent snuggled into each other on a couch or the mornings dawn had found them securely entwined.

She knew that wasn't 'normal' best friend perimeters but it seemed normal for them. Neither really questioned when it started or why they both seemed to let it continue. And oddly enough that had never felt like the elephant in the room. That kind of behavior just was with them. It was on rare occasions like tonight that Jane let herself wonder if it all added up to something more.

She could admit the physical attraction was there. Hell, she wasn't blind. And she was pretty sure the physical attraction was there for Maura as well. Jane didn't acknowledge it for the most part but she understood how her looks were perceived by most. But this was Maura and Maura deserved to be thought of beyond the physical attraction.

Perhaps Maura did feel more towards Jane. Earlier today Maura had even said that what she was attracted to was a sense of humor. Jane hadn't expected that kind of answer when she jokingly asked the question. But it did made her think. Of all the people Maura had been involved with to any degree, Jane could only think of one person who could make Maura laugh and she was that one person.

Jane was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by the beeping of her phone. She had a text message. Looking at the clock on her nightstand it was 11:14 pm. Too late to be one of the guys so Jane bet it was either her mother or Maura. She hoped for the latter.

_Are you still awake? -M_

She smiled that it was from Maura and not her mother. Her head was already spinning with enough tonight to add her mother into the mix.

_Yeah- u ok? -J_

She was a little worried. Maura usually didn't text this late at night. She hoped nothing was wrong.

_I'm fine. Didn't mean to worry you. -M_

Jane found herself shaking her head. She was about to type a response and decided that it seemed silly to chat in text mode when she could just dial her friend. So she did that instead genuinely happy for the chance to hear the sound of Maura's voice.

"You didn't worry me but it is a little later than usual for you to be texting me," Jane said as soon as Maura picked up the call. She hadn't even let Maura say hello.

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep," Maura replied.

"So tell me what's keeping you awake?" Jane gently asked.

Maura released a sigh which after she wondered if Jane heard. Jane was the main reason she hadn't been able to fall asleep for the last hour but she was pretty sure she wasn't going to admit that. At least not to the entire truth of that. But there was something she was thinking about that she knew she could share with Jane.

"I'm worried about you," she answered. Which was true. She was aware that there was something bothering Jane and it had been ever since the start of her current case. Jane hadn't seemed to want to talk about it but that just made Maura worry even more.

"About me?" Jane asked. "Why are you worried about me?" Although she had a feeling she knew what Maura was worried about.

"Jane," Maura said and appeared not to hide the scolding in her tone. "You've been upset about this detective from those 2002 cases but I don't know what happened or who he even is so that worries me." Her statement was greeted with a rather long silence. Maura was afraid she just ran head first into the Jane Rizzoli wall but she wasn't going to let Jane off the hook so quickly. "Talk to me," she said quietly.

Jane heard the compassion in Maura's voice and it tugged at her heart. No one had the ability to make her feel as safe and cared for as Maura did. There was just something about the woman that made Jane believe that it was alright to let her guard down. That somehow it was ok for Maura to see her vulnerable. That Maura wouldn't judge her or use anything against her.

"His name is Andrew Jennings," Jane said softly. "And there is some," and she paused trying to think of a way to label it, "history between us."

Maura released the breath she was holding. With just that statement she knew Jane was going to tell her what was wrong. "History? So you two were involved?" she asked not sure how to interpret the word 'history'.

"God no!" came an instant reaction from Jane. She hadn't meant to be so forceful with her reply. "Sorry," she said not wanting Maura to think she was upset with her. "No, we weren't 'involved' with each other. I was partnered with him for a temporary assignment when I was first promoted to detective."

"Oh, so something happened between you two during that assignment?" Maura probed.

"No," Jane said. "Our issue happened about six months after I was placed in Vice," Jane said.

Again, there was silence between the two. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Maura was giving Jane time and space to decide when and how she wanted to continue to talk and Jane was trying to decide how best to proceed.

"Are you sure you want to hear all of this?" Jane asked breaking through the silence after a few moments. "It's kind of late, this really is a long story and you need to get some sleep."

"What I need is to be right here for you. I will always want to listen to anything you need to talk about," Maura replied with conviction. "I don't care what time it is or how long it will take for you to tell me what's bothering you. I have all the time in the world for you." There was no mistaking the sincerity of her words.

Jane took a deep breath and started to talk. "When I was first promoted to detective, I wasn't given a permanent assignment. The department had several detectives set to retire and I was supposed to float until one of the permanent positions opened up. I wasn't happy about it but there wasn't much I could do about it. At that time I had just wanted to get into my own division so I could start being a detective.

"About three weeks into my floating I got lucky. A homicide detective, Will Jackson, got hurt and was going out on an extended medical leave. My lieutenant decided that I would fill in for him in homicide until he was back on his feet. It meant an end to floating and more importantly it meant a chance to be partnered with Andrew Jennings.

"Maur, it was like a dream come true for me. Jennings was a legend. He was the best detective on the force and in the division I knew I wanted to be in someday. It seemed so perfect."

"So what happened?" Maura asked as clearly something about this wasn't so perfect.

"The rotation was everything I thought it would be. Jennings really took me under his wing and I learned more about being a detective in the time I worked with him than I had learned from the academy or my time on the streets. He gave me my first sense of the homicide division. That first real understanding of the work they did and it just confirmed my desire to get a permanent assignment there one day.

"We were partnered together for just over two months and I had the chance to work some really challenging cases. But Jackson's leg healed and my spot in Vice opened up. As quickly as it started, my time with Jennings had come to an end.

"My transition into Vice went smoothly. The veterans in the division all knew I was coming off time spent working with Jennings which seemed to give me instant credibility. I wasn't treated like a rookie detective by anyone. I earned my own in Vice but I walked in with a leg up and I owed that to Andrew.

"I was thrown right into a sting operation for Vice which occupied my time and I didn't see or hear from anyone in homicide for about six months. But then in mid-January…"

R&I

_January 2004_

"_Rizzoli!" the impatient lieutenant bellowed from his office._

"_Alright, alright," Jane announced as she made her way towards his office. "Don't blow a gasket. I'm coming." She had a smile on her face as she weaved through the cubicles towards his door. She'd been in Vice for just over six months and had made a good name for herself. Six months in and she had already lost count of the number of 'Johns' she arrested in sting operations. About two months into her time she even stopped being surprised by how many were 'upstanding' members of the Boston community._

"_About time," he snipped at her as she enter his office but Jane could detect the kidding in his voice so she wasn't bothered by his words. She had developed a very good working relationship with the man since she was sent over to Vice._

"_Keep your pants on," she pushed back. "Now that I'm here, what do you need?"_

_The lieutenant rolled his eyes at her. "Rizzoli, your services have been requested for a special joint task force."_

_Jane couldn't help but smile. Not that she was unhappy in Vice but it was starting to get a little old. There was a limit to how many times a girl could get excited about parading the streets of Boston dressed as a hooker. "What's the assignment?" she asked hoping it would be something that took her off the streets for at least a little while._

"_Homicide is investigating a string a murders in the Back Bay. There's a chance this could be a serial and the suspect seems to be targeting prostitutes." As her lieutenant spoke Jane suddenly realized she may not be getting 'off' the streets._

"_Let me guess," Jane spoke, "they want a walking, talking detective kind of bait."_

_The lieutenant nodded. "Looks like it. Seems that you just might be this asshole's type," he said and handed over a file with photos of some of the victims. As Jane looked at the photos it was clear she shared several physical characteristics with the victims._

"_When do they need me?" she asked._

"_Now," came a voice from the lieutenant's doorway Jane recognized. She looked up and both Jennings and Jackson were standing there. "We need you now, Rizzoli."_

_Jane smiled. She hadn't seen either detective since they celebrated the closure of what had been Jane's last homicide case and the return to desk duty of Jackson. "You know," Jane couldn't help but make a smartass comment. "If you missed me this much you could have just called or sent flowers."_

_Both homicide detectives laughed. "Who said anyone missed you?" Jennings pushed. "I just happen to like the idea of using you as bait."_

_The lieutenant decided he wanted his office back and didn't need to play host to what appeared to be an amicable reunion. "All of you out," he said. "Jane, work with these two until this case is resolved. But keep me in the loop. You know I hate being the last to know about things involving my detectives."_

"_Yes Sir," Jane said and got up to join the homicide duo. "So, catch me up on what's going on," she said as they all made their way towards the elevators._

R&I

"I remember reading about those murders," Maura said. "He killed eight women before he was finally stopped. Patterson or something close to that."

"Parker," Jane corrected.

"Jane, I didn't know you were involved in helping to catch that guy," said Maura.

Jane never really talked about the cases she helped close. She always found it wrong to 'brag' about a big case or an arrest. She was never into seeking out praise or recognition for a collar. While other detectives wore their high profile cases like badges of honor Jane just quietly moved onto the next place she could be of some help to someone. "There were a lot of people who worked that task force Maura. I was just one of many," she dismissed Maura's comments with that.

Maura knew Jane never really talked about the cases she helped close and Maura respected her for that. Jane was never an attention seeker. "So," Maura said getting them back to the story, "you joined up with Jennings and his original partner Jackson."

R&I

_January 2004_

"_Two weeks and nothing," Jane grumbled in frustration as she read through more of the task force surveillance reports._

"_I told you this wasn't going to be easy," Jackson said looking up from his stack of papers. "Our guy doesn't have much of a predictable pattern so we always knew the 'when' factor was a little ambiguous."_

"_I know," Jane said. "But I've been out there freezing my ass off for the last two weeks and we have nothing to show for it. Not one of the teams has spotted the car or our suspect anywhere in Boston."_

_They had a good description of the vehicle they were sure their suspect was using to cruise for victims. A prostitute named Desire had come forward with the description of the car and the driver of a man after she had been smart enough to turn down. Instead of joining him, Desire watched as the man just managed to pick up the next woman who walked up to his car. That women had turned out to be their eighth victim._

"_We'll get him Jane," Jackson said. "You and I both know he will go out again."_

"_I know Will," she sighed. "But I don't want the body count to reach nine."_

"_Neither do I," he offered. "So we just have to keep at it."_

_Jane nodded. "Where's Andrew?" she asked looking around the bullpen._

_Jackson returned his attention back to his files and avoided eye contact with Jane. "He's around," he answered._

_Jennings had been disappearing without explanation for extended periods of time over the last few weeks. Jane knew Jackson was covering for him but she didn't know what was really going on. "He's been 'around' a lot lately Will." Her tone of pointed and it made Jackson look at her. "What's going on?"_

_Jackson sighed. "Look," he said, "Andy just has some problems he's trying to work out. Cut him some slack."_

_Jane nodded. It wasn't really her place to say much of anything. He wasn't her partner and she certainly wasn't his boss. "Whatever," she said. "I'm just sick of doing his paperwork. Again."_

_Jackson snickered, "Oh, he's knee deep in his own shit right now. Trust me. You are getting the better end of this stick."_

_Jane briefly wondered what Jackson meant by that but again decided it wasn't any of her business. She returned to the stack of surveillance reports in front of her and started to review them again._

R&I

"_We've got Boylston Street tonight," Jennings announced as he walked into the room. They were inside one of the three safe houses the department was using to stage their surveillance teams, equipment and command centers._

_Jane nodded. She never really cared where they put her in the city she just wanted this guy found. "I'll go get ready," she said and went to go change into a more inappropriate outfit._

_She found it somewhat ironic that it took her twice as long to get made up in her hooker garb as it did for her to just get ready for a normal day. Who knew looking sleazy took so much effort. When she finally finished she made her way into the living room expecting to find both Jennings and Jackson. Instead, she caught the tail end of the door slamming and a very frustrated Jackson standing in the room staring at the door._

"_Will?" she asked._

"_Don't worry about it," he said._

"_No Will," Jane pushed. "I am going to worry about it. What the hell is his problem?" Jennings had been in a lousy mood all day and was snapping at everyone._

"_It's just…" Jackson started but Jane cut him off._

"_Don't give me that 'just something he is dealing with' crap. I want a real answer this time. I mean, is he even coming back? We have a stakeout to perform here."_

_Jackson sighed and looked at Jane. "He's a mess Jane. Right now his coming back is the last thing either of us needs."_

_Jane was a little surprised Jackson was finally willing to admit there was an issue. "He's drunk again?" Jane asked. She had noticed the drinking about a week ago. It started with realizing he was hung over frequently and then she caught him sneaking drinks of something other than coffee._

_If Jackson was surprised Jane had figured it out about the alcohol he hid it well. "Yeah, he's drunk. I can't deal with him when it's this bad and we don't need him for tonight."_

_Jane nodded. She had Will watching her back and several officers staged for backup in the area so they didn't need Andrew. "We don't. But he needs help," she pointed out what by now was the obvious._

"_I'm trying with him," Will replied. "But he doesn't think he has a problem other than his bitch of an ex-wife."_

"_That's still plaguing him?" she asked not knowing all of the details but their divorce was supposed to be final by now._

"_The woman is relentless. She's going after his pension now. She cheats on him, flaunting her affairs all over town, and now he has to turn over his hard earned money to her? It's not sitting well with him right now. Maybe after the divorce settlement is final things will lighten up." He doubted that but he was hopeful._

"_Will," Jane said, "he can't be drunk at work. He's a cop."_

"_I know. That just started a couple of weeks ago." Jackson took a step closer to Jane. "Let me try to reason with him. He's a good cop. He just needs a break." He really didn't want Jane reporting this to their lieutenant._

"_Let's head out," Jane said. "We can deal with this later." She wasn't going to agree not to report Andrew. Not yet anyway. But they had other things to deal with for the moment._

_Jackson really had no other choice but to agree and to follow Jane out into the cold Boston night._


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_January 2004_

_Two hours into her night out on Boylston Street Jane spotted a car matching the description of their suspect's slowly cruising up towards her._

"_Heads up Will," Jane casually stated into her wire. "I think we might be in luck." _

_Will gave a quick flash of his headlights that he heard Jane's warning and Jane knew he was alerting the patrol cars in the vicinity that they had a sighting. Jane positioned herself closer to the road and pretended not to be interested in the car that was approaching her._

_The car stopped and the passenger window was rolled down. "Excuse me," the driver called out._

_Jane stepped closer to the car and looked in. Immediately she knew the driver matched the description Desire had given. She knew she needed to play it cool. "What?" she asked as uninterested as she could manage._

"_I'm new in town and was wondering if you knew a good place to get a drink. Maybe some dinner?" the driver asked._

"_Hey, what do I look like a frickin tour guide or something? Go bother someone else," she said and started to pull back from the window. Jane knew from her time in stings that it was better to play a little hard to get than to seem too eager._

"_You look like someone I'd like to get to know a little better," the driver said. The tone of his voice made Jane's skin crawl._

_She turned and looked into the car again. "I don't think so," she said hoping to keep the guy dangling on the hook._

_As she went to pull away from the car again he spoke quickly, "I can make it worth your while."_

_Jane knew she almost had him. She hesitated for a minute making him think that she was debating it before she leaned back towards the window. "Can you now? Why do I doubt that," she said but this time she didn't pull away from the window. It was time to close the deal on this guy._

"_$100," he said._

"_Yeah right," Jane scoffed at the man. "Like you have that kind of cash."_

_He took the bait and the next thing Jane saw was the driver spreading out a wad of cash towards her. "$100 to start with the potential for more considering how the night goes."_

_She found it hard to look interested. The guy was seriously creeping her out. "More you say?" she asked knowing she was close to locking down the solicitation charge._

"_Depending on how adventurous you are willing to be," the driver replied._

_The plan had always been to get the suspect on solicitation and then search him and his vehicle for forensic evidence for the murders. Jane, or any of the other undercover officers, were never supposed to get into the suspect's car as that was deemed too risky. Jane saw the patrol officers closing in and knew they were about to pin the vehicle in. They had him._

"_Oh," Jane said leaning in towards the window, "I'm feeling very, very adventurous tonight."_

_The driver smiled and hit the unlock door on the car. "How about you join me then," he said as he patted the passenger seat._

_Jane smiled and reached for her badge as she knew everyone was in place. She held up her badge and looked at the driver. "I don't think so. I think you will be joining me and my friends here. Boston PD. You are under arrest for soliciting an officer."_

_The driver seemed stunned and just stared at Jane's badge. He had missed that a car had pulled up next to him and that one was now in front of him. He realized another was pulling in behind him and that left him trapped unless he drove up onto the sidewalk to try to get away._

_As if sensing this, Jane pulled out her gun and warned him. "Don't even think about it. You won't make it out."_

_That seemed to work and within seconds two officers had pulled him from the car and had him down on the ground. Now they just needed to prove their John was also a killer._

R&I

"You did an excellent job Jane," Maura said.

Jane smiled. She could hear the pride in Maura's tone and she could picture the smile Maura had as she said that. "I was just doing my job Maur."

"You never take credit for the things you do," Maura pointed out.

Jane wasn't sure how the conversation had weaved its way down this path. "I don't do my job for credit Maura. I just want to help people."

Maura realized they were getting off track. "I know. It's one of the many things I love about you," and it was out before she even really had a chance to think about what she was saying.

"Oh really," Jane teased understanding what Maura had meant but unable to resist the urge to tease a bit.

"Really," Maura admitted and didn't see the need to get flustered. There truly were many things she loved about Jane.

A silence settled over them for a few moments before Maura spoke.

"What happened with you and Jennings?" She still was unclear what happened between them as last Jane had said Jennings had stormed out of the safe house and was drunk.

"I'm getting to that," Jane answered. "I warned you this was a long story."

"So you did," Maura replied. She was glad she was lying comfortably in her bed as she talked with Jane. "Please continue."

R&I

"_The CSRU team is having a field day with his car," Jackson's voice came through Jane's phone. "We've recovered two knifes, rope, a sweater we think belonged to our third victim and apparently Parker didn't see the need to clean up after himself and there are latent prints all over the inside of the car."_

_Jane couldn't help but smile. Her part in the investigation had come to an end now that their suspect was in custody and off the street but she had asked for an update on whether any evidence was found during the vehicle search. She had hoped everyone's efforts weren't in vain and now it appeared as if they could make their murder case._

"_That's excellent," Jane said. _

"_Want to meet for a drink at the Robber to celebrate?" he asked. He hadn't known Jane as long as Jennings had but he liked and respected her. Cavanaugh was handling the first interview of Parker who he heard had asked for a lawyer and they really couldn't do more until CSRU finished processing the car and Parker's home. He was basically finished for the evening._

"_Yeah," Jane said. "I'm just stopping by the safe house to grab my things since you all don't need me anymore. I can meet you there in about 45 minutes."_

"_Good," Will said. "I'll see you there."_

_Jane hung up the phone and headed out towards the safe house. She didn't have much at the house but it was enough that she didn't want to leave it behind. By tomorrow she would be back in her own division and her testimony would be all that she would have left to contribute to the investigation._

_She pulled up to the house and got out the car. As she headed towards the house she remembered to remove the key from her key ring so she could give that back to Will when she saw him later. She entered the house and was a little surprised to see the lights were on in the living room. Apparently the command team forgot to turn them off when they left._

_She entered the living room was startled by the presence of Jennings who was simply sitting on the couch. "Jesus Andrew!" Jane said not hiding her start. "You scared the shit out of me." She hadn't expected to find anyone in the house._

_Jennings looked up at Jane and almost didn't seem to recognize her. "Rizzoli?" he slurred and it was clear that he was drunk. _

"_Yeah," Jane said. "Andrew what are you doing here?" Jane looked around and saw there were two empty bottles of Jack Daniels on the floor by his feet. From the looks of him Jane was pretty sure he had put both of them away himself._

"_Did ya catch em?" he slurred._

"_Yes," she answered. "He's in custody." She walked past him into the bathroom to grab what she had come for. She wasn't sure if she needed, or wanted, to be dealing with the drunken detective. From what she could tell it was best if she just left._

_She turned around to head back into the living room to say goodbye to Jennings but instead nearly plowed into him as she turned. How he had managed to walk to her in his condition and her not hear him moving was suddenly a mystery to Jane._

"_You done good," he said as he stood in front of Jane._

"_Thanks," Jane replied. She tried to step past him but he moved to get in her way. "Andrew," Jane warned. She wasn't in the mood for this._

"_Seriously, I mean really. You did great. I listened. I heard it go down. They got the little psycho and you catched him," he said looking at her. "You have what it takes to be big time."_

"_Thanks," Jane answered again. She knew it wasn't a good idea to try to talk to him for long. "Now, I need to head out and you need to sleep it off." _

"_I'm drunk," he announced as if that wasn't apparent._

"_Clearly," Jane responded and moved around him thankful that this time he let her pass._

"_Do you know why I'm drunk?" he asked following slowly behind her._

"_I would say the two bottles of Jack would have something to do with it," she answered._

_He stood there for a minute and Jane could tell he was trying to understand what he heard her say. It took him a minute to catch up. "Ha!" he laughed. "You funny. I forgot you were funny." He stumbled towards her again. "No," he started, "I am drunk cuz women are bitches. Especially my wife. She's like the Queen of all bitches." He looked as if that should explain it all._

"_Sleep it off Andrew," Jane said. She wasn't going to listen to his tale of misery._

"_Not only," he said loudly as if Jane hadn't interrupted him, "is she a bitch but she's a whore too." He put extra emphasis on the words 'bitch' and 'whore' like that would help Jane understand his point. As he spoke he moved closer and closer to where Jane was standing. "Why are women like that?" he asked staring at Jane as if she possessed the magic answer to this question._

"_Andrew," Jane warned him as he was getting a little too close for her comfort again._

"_No Jane, I'm askin. Why are women like that? So cruel. So…." and he seemed to struggle to finish his thought._

_Jane took a step back only to have Andrew move a step forward. "Look Andrew," she said. "Clearly you have some unresolved issue when it comes to your ex-wife…" and before she could say another word Jennings suddenly backhanded her with his fist striking her square across the jaw._

_The between the force of his blow and its unexpected timing Jane was caught off guard and defenseless. She flew backwards falling hard onto the floor. She fell flat on her back and it knocked the wind out of her. For a moment she lay on the floor finding it hard to even take in a breath. Once she could at least start to move air through her lungs she started to try to get up. _

_As she tried to lift herself up the extent of his punch to her jaw was apparent as she was dizzy and having a hard time focusing. She had just made it to her knees when she felt Andrew's foot connect with her stomach. That again knocked her on her back and she doubled over in pain._

"_You are all the same! All of you. You use sex to get what you want," he was screaming at her as she scrambled to get to her feet. She was still having a hard time focusing but her cop instincts were telling her the worst thing she could do was stay down on the floor. _

"_I heard you Jane! I heard you pick up that psycho tonight," he shouted at her. "You've had practice. It sounded so easy for you. Did you like it?" He went to kick her again but she rolled out of the way._

_She was surprised with as drunk as he was he hadn't lost his balance when he missed. She had just managed to get back on her feet again only to have him hit her across the jaw for a second time. The force of this blow sent Jane falling back to the ground again. Only this time within a few seconds of her landing on the ground Andrew was on top of her and pinning her down on the floor._

"_Get off!" Jane managed to scream at him but he didn't seem to even hear it._

"_I watched you every night for weeks paint yourself up to look like one of them. Did you enjoy that like my wife enjoys it?"_

_Jane struggled against Jennings' weight that had her pinned to the floor. She desperately tried to find some leverage using her hips and legs to get away but he had her trapped. She tried to roll them both over hoping that in his inebriated condition his reflexes would be off. But she couldn't seem to break away cleanly._

"_You were better than this Jane," he said has he continued to pin her to the floor. "You let them turn you into a whore. Why? Why would you let them do that to you?"_

_Out of nowhere Jane felt Andrew's hands suddenly around her throat and he began to choke her. Jane attempted to push him off of her but failed to make much progress there. She tried to scream but nothing came out and oxygen was starting to become a real issue. She was desperate for air and needed to do something. _

_Frantically she began to swing her right arm around the ground looking for something to use as a weapon. Her fingertips found what she vaguely recalled to be one of the bottles of Jack that had been on the floor but she couldn't seem to actually grasp the bottle._

_Acting on pure instinct, Jane managed to turn and lift her head just enough to be able to bite down on the top of one of Andrew's hands that were still choking the life out of her. She bit down as hard as she could hoping he would loosen his grip as she was starting to feel her consciousness level slipping. _

_The room was growing darker by the second and her vision was fading. She heard him scream as her teeth sank into his skin and she felt him shift his weight off of her slightly. She vaguely remembered reaching her arm out one last time and her hand found the bottle of Jack. _

_The last thing she remembered was hearing a thud from the bottle landing somewhere against Jennings' head. Everything went black for Jane after that._

R&I

"Oh my God! That son of a bitch!" Maura couldn't contain her shock any longer. She had sat straight up in bed when Jane got to the part when Jennings had hit her and by the time Jane had explained what she could remember before passing out Maura had gotten out of bed and was pacing.

Just listening to what Jane had been saying had upset Maura and she honestly felt the urge to get in her car and drive over to Jane's apartment just to make sure that Jane was ok. Which was stupid she knew as Jane clearly was fine. All of this happened years ago but it still upset her which was why she was still pacing around in her room.

"Calm down, Maura," Jane said in a soothing voice. "I didn't tell you this to upset you. Stop pacing."

Maura immediately stopped pacing. "How did you know I was pacing?"

"I could hear your movements," Jane said. She was sorry she had upset Maura but she couldn't help the smile as she pictured Maura pacing in her room. She was pretty sure Maura was debating driving over to her apartment to check on her.

"I just can't believe he did that to you," she said as she sat back down on the bed simply to stop the pacing. She wasn't completely sure that she had abandoned the notion of driving over to see Jane so she refused to get under the covers.

"Trust me, it surprised me too," Jane answered. She hadn't seen anything like that coming.

"So then what happened?" Maura asked really wanting to be sure nothing worse occurred than what Jane had told her.

"Jackson found the both of us," Jane said. "When I didn't show at the Robber and then didn't answer my phone he got worried and drove to the last place I told him I was going. Jennings was out cold, more from the alcohol than any damage I could have done with that bottle, he was able to wake me without too much effort."

"You reported what he did to you, right?" Maura asked.

"Sort of," Jane answered softly.

"What do you mean sort of? The man tried to kill you!" Maura chastised.

"I realize that," Jane said. "When I came to Jackson was about to call for a bus but I asked him not to"

"Jane," Maura started.

"Maura," Jane cut her off. "Believe it or not it was a complicated situation. Look. I was basically still a brand new detective. Reporting this and making an 'official' complaint would have hurt me almost more than it would have hurt Jennings."

"Why would that be?" Maura asked now confused.

"Because the Boston police department is still a department run mostly by old white men," Jane answered with a heavy sigh. "It's a boy's club Maura. It always has been and to some extent it always will be. Reporting Jennings would have flagged me as weak and someone who was a narc and that would have destroyed my career."

"But he can't just get away with hurting you," Maura said angrily.

"He didn't," Jane said. "The next day Will and I told Cavanaugh what happened."

"Lieutenant Cavanaugh?" Maura asked.

"Yep, only he was Sergeant Cavanaugh at the time and Jennings' supervisor," Jane said. "Will and I wanted Andrew to get help more than to get disciplined. So we went to Sean. Sean went to Andrew and gave him a choice: rehab or prison."

"Would Sean have arrested him?" Maura asked.

"The minute I asked him to or the minute Andrew refused rehab," Jane answered. She still hadn't forgotten how pissed off Sean was at Jennings for what he did. He almost hit the man himself. Cavanaugh had tried to talk Jane into pressing charges but in the end admitted she was right about what it could do to her career.

"So I take it Jennings entered rehab," Maura wondered.

"Sean had to tell a few of the higher ups what was going on. He kept my name out of it but basically let them know that Jennings had an alcohol problem and he nearly killed someone. Considering the department had just broke the Parker murder case wide open the powers that be couldn't run the risk of the media picking up on what Jennings, a lead detective in the Parker case, had done. Nothing scares the brass more than negative media attention. So they 'transferred' him down state to another police department and that's when he entered into rehab for the alcohol issues."

"How did people react?" Maura asked.

"Rumors were flying everywhere but thankfully I was mostly kept out of them. It got out he was struggling with alcohol. Sadly that is pretty common within the department. But it also got out that he might have assaulted someone. Will and Sean never told anyone the person he attacked was me and since I was in Vice no one really connected me with Jennings' sudden disappearance. Since it was out that he was drinking and everyone knew his divorce was not a smooth one almost everyone assumed if he assaulted someone it must have been his ex-wife."

"Almost everyone?"

"I have always thought a few people figured it out," Jane answered. "Maybe not right away but I think a couple of the homicide detectives pieced things together. I was always pretty certain Korsak figured it out."

"Did Vince ever say anything to you?" Maura asked.

"About Jennings? No," Jane replied. "Not on purpose at least."

"Not on purpose?" Maura asked now confused again.

"He slipped once," Jane said. "One night at the Robber he made a comment about Jennings. I don't think he even realized what he said but it was enough for me to believe he knew anyway."

Maura was quiet for a few moments. It was a lot to take in. She couldn't believe someone would do that to Jane.

"No wonder you reacted to having to deal with a former case of his," Maura said.

"I shouldn't let it get to me. It was years ago," Jane said. She wasn't too happy that he did have an impact on her.

"Jane, the man tried to kill you. You are entitled to a level of hesitation," Maura said. Jane never wanted to let people see if she was struggling with anything. "Are you going to have to see him again?" Maura asked remembering Jane had said detective from the 2002 case was coming into the station for a consult.

"Not if I can help it," Jane admitted. "Vince offered to deal with him."

The thought of Vince stepping in to protect Jane got Maura to calm down again. She found herself lying back down and getting under the covers.

"Nice to see you decided not to drive over here," Jane said with a small laugh. "It's too late for you to be out driving."

"How did you?" she started to asked.

"I heard you get under the covers," Jane said.

The woman had to have sonar for hearing Maura decided. She stifled a yawn not wanting Jane to hear that but it was too late.

"You need to sleep," Jane pointed out. "I'm sorry for keeping you up so late." She looked over at the clock and it was now 1:12 am.

"I told you," Maura replied, "I'm always here for you."

Jane smiled. She knew. "I know," she said. "But I will thank you for listening to me anyway."

"You don't need to thank me," Maura said and yawned again.

"I do but you need to go the sleep," Jane pointed out. "We have a very important night out tonight and I can't have you falling asleep in the middle of it."

Maura grinned thinking about their upcoming date. She was too tired to fight with herself about calling it a date. "Will you tell me what we are doing if I asked?"

"Nope," Jane teased. "It's not tonight yet so it is still a secret."

"Jane," Maura whined.

"Good night," Jane said smiling again at the visual of a pouting Maura.

Maura sighed and felt the sleep starting to overtake her. "Good night," she conceded and hung up. She was asleep as soon as the call disconnected.

Jane lay back down and stared up at the ceiling again. She realized she felt better after talking with Maura. She smiled thinking that Maura just made things in her life better. Maybe it wouldn't be such a terrible thing to consider tonight a 'date'. She let that thought settle her as she, too, found sleep as she settled into her bed.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Cedar Junction is pulling our requested items," Korsak said to Jane as he got off the phone. "They said they can email over scans of the correspondence they flagged as suspicious later this afternoon. The photos of his visitors, including Stills, won't be ready until tomorrow. They have to pull up video footage and take screen shots."

"I'll take whatever we can get," Jane said. While they had the photo from the parking garage they still didn't have an ID of the man that put Allyson in that car. It could be this Walter Stills but he could just as easily be someone they didn't even have an alias for yet. Frost hadn't had any more luck finding a Walter Stills in the system than Korsak had.

There was still way too much about this case that they didn't know. Besides the ID of the man from the parking garage, they couldn't tell if he was their killer. The footage wasn't enough to see if Allyson was killed before being moved to the Malibu or just incapacitated. They had a BOLO out on the Malibu but so far they hadn't found any Malibus abandoned and without accurate plates there wasn't much the BOLO could do for them.

Jane also had no idea about victimology. There was no evidence at all about why the killer targeted Allyson. She didn't know if Allyson had been chosen or id she was just a victim of opportunity. It was the victimology angle that Jane was actually hoping Jennings could help them with. Because of the guilty plea, Pelton was never forced to explain why he chose the two victims he chose. There was a chance Jennings would remember a reason or a theory that just never got written down into the files.

"Now let's just hope word doesn't get back to Pelton that we're asking," she said after a few minutes. They were still unclear about Pelton's involvement in everything and hoped to delay his learning that official inquiries had been made for as long as they could.

"We'll have a few days at best," Korsak warned. "You know how word travels in prison." Jane simply nodded. She glanced over at the clock it was approaching noon. Korsak noticed and spoke. "Go."

Jane looked over at him but didn't say anything.

"Seriously Jane," he said. "Go. I know you don't want to see him and he is supposed to be here at 1 pm. I'll handle talking with him. Why don't you go to lunch and then you can swing by that mailbox company with the photo from the parking garage. They told me if we had a picture they would at least tell us if they recognize the photo."

Jane considered this but still didn't say anything. She looked at Korsak and couldn't help but be thankful that she had him in her life. She loved Frost and she wouldn't give up working with him for anything but there was a bond between her and Korsak she was just extremely grateful wasn't severed after she requested a new partner. It had been hard for her to ask for someone else after Hoyt. But she had been convinced Korsak couldn't ever trust that she could have his back after seeing how she let Hoyt get the upper hand.

Time had helped to correct that misconception for her. Time and Vince's quiet brand of patience with her. She knew she caught a huge break when Korsak was promoted to Sergeant. That allowed her to continue to work and be partnered with him. The three had an excellent working relationship and Jane believed they were as successful with case closures because the three detectives all complimented each other.

But Vince was more than a partner. He was a dear friend. A friend who was quietly attempting to protect her from having to deal with Andrew Jennings. They had never talked about what happened. For years Jane didn't even think Vince knew she was involved in Jennings' sudden disappearance.

But one night at the Robber after they had closed a case in which a man killed his girlfriend in a drunken rage, Vince made a comment about how too many people were allowed to use alcohol as an excuse for their unacceptable behavior. He cited a few examples including Jennings. That was the first time Jane realized Vince might know what had happened. She didn't ask him and as he kept talking she was pretty sure he didn't even realize he used a situation involving her as an example.

She loved how he didn't pry into her life. He was there for her if she needed anything. Of that she was certain. But he didn't push when he shouldn't and he didn't pry when he wasn't wanted. And that was completely fine for him. He wasn't offended or bothered if she didn't share an issue. He just accepted Jane for who she was and let her decide when she would or wouldn't confide in him.

"Are you sure?" she finally asked. She really didn't want to even see Jennings but she still felt a little guilty leaving Vince to do what should have been her job.

"I'm sure. Go," he said. "I would imagine we should be finished by 3 but if for some reason we run longer than that I will text you." He knew Jane didn't want to even see the former detective so he would do everything he could to keep him from her.

Frost was working through the CSRU reports from Allyson's Nissan and had already said he had his own plans for lunch. Even though she was seeing Maura tonight she thought maybe Maura would like to go to lunch with her too. Turning to leave she paused and looked at Vince. "Thanks," she said in a soft voice that conveyed everything she couldn't say.

"Anytime," he said and returned to his stack of paperwork.

R&I

Sticking her head into Maura's office Jane greeted the ME with a question. "Lunch?"

Maura looked up and smiled at the detective. "I'd love to," she said and frowned. "But I can't. I am swamped right now and if you want me to be able to leave by 5 I need to work through lunch."

Jane was disappointed but understanding. She did need Maura to be free by 5 so she wasn't going to mess the evening up. "Do you want me to have Ma at least make you something to eat?" she asked worried Maura wasn't going to eat.

Maura smiled, "Would you mind?"

"Not at all," Jane said. "After all, I kept you up way past your bedtime last night. A food run is the least I can do for you today."

"Jane," Maura smiled, "you are surprising me with a…" and she almost let the word 'date' slip out, "where are we going again?" she asked more to cover her near slip of the tongue than in any belief Jane was going to tell her.

"Nice try," Jane pointed out and didn't seem to notice Maura's near slip. "But you do need to eat. I'll have Ma bring you down a salad or something equally healthy."

Maura nodded and looked at the clock. "When is he coming?" She was still bothered by what Jane had told her the night before and had been worried that Jane might somehow run into Jennings today.

"Vince said 1 pm," Jane answered. "I'll otherwise occupy myself until around 3 pm and he promised if they ran longer he would text me."

Maura was relieved to hear Jane was leaving the station. "Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," Jane answered. "It really was a long time ago. I don't want to see him but I'm not afraid of him." This was true. She wasn't afraid that anything would happen between the two of them.

"Alright," Maura conceded. That had been years since the man had tried to hurt Jane.

"I'll have lunch sent down for you," Jane said as she turned to head back up to the cafe.

R&I

"Hey Ma," Jane said as she spotted Angela behind the counter. "Will you do something for me?"

"Depends," Angela replied. "Will you tell me what your plans are with Maura tonight?"

"Nope," Jane answered without even considering it.

"Then no," Angela replied. "You can get your own coffee." She tried to keep a straight face but couldn't and cracked a smile.

Jane laughed. "Nice Ma," she said. "Actually the favor is for Maura so you should just say yes."

That made Angela seem to want to be more helpful. "What does she need?"

"Lunch," Jane answered. "She can't join me if she is going to be free by 5 so I promised her you'd bring her down something so she doesn't starve."

Angela smiled. She would be happy to bring something down for Maura for lunch. She loved the way Jane looked out for Maura. It was obvious to everyone that Jane was protective of the ME but Angela always loved to see the smaller things Jane did for Maura that others didn't get a chance to witness. Making sure she got lunch when she was too busy to get away or taking her car in to be serviced when Maura forgot, or even how she would walk in front of Maura so she could point out safety issues especially in bad weather.

Angela actually noticed that one this last winter. They had all gone out for dinner and while walking back to the car Jane stayed in front of Maura and pointed out every patch of possible ice on the sidewalks along the way. Maura acted as if Jane did that all the time. Angela paid more attention over the weeks that followed and discovered that Jane did in fact do that all the time. She just added it to the growing list of evidence that had convinced her Jane loved Maura.

"Did she have a request?" Angela asked.

"Not really but I did promise her something healthy," Jane said.

"I think I can manage," the matriarch replied. "Do you need anything?"

"No," Jane answered. "I'm on my way out. I'll be back in a few hours. But thanks for taking something down for Maura." Jane handed Angela enough money to cover anything she would make for the ME and headed out.

"My pleasure," Angela replied and watched her daughter leave. Whatever it was they were doing tonight she hoped one of them would finally decide to call it a date.

R&I

"Are you sure about this Jake?" Jane asked. She was dropping off the items Jake promised to hold for her until later that night. Taking a longer lunch had actually worked out great for Jane. It allowed her the chance to leave them here instead was having to worry about Maura finding them in the car later.

"Jane," he said and sighed, "for the hundredth time I'm positive. You are all set. These will be fine here I promise. Just get here by 6. I've got everything else covered just like we talked about." He'd known Jane for most of her life but he couldn't remember ever seeing her this nervous about anything before.

Jane nodded. She trusted Jake but she was just nervous. "We'll be here."

"So," he asked, "who's the girl?" He just couldn't resist trying to find out.

"Jake," Jane warned.

"Hey," he said defensively. "I'm just asking. Clearly she means something to you. You're all twisted up and nervous not to mention that you are doing this for her. I just was wondering who the lucky lady was."

Jane had known Jake for years but there was no way she was going to talk to him about her private life. "I'm not all twisted up," she answered defensively. She was sick of people pointing that out to her.

"Right," he said and made no attempt to mask the sarcasm.

Since everything appeared to be under control she didn't need to stand there and take any of his crap. "See you tonight," she hollered at him as she walked away in a huff. She was not twisted up.

Jake shook his head and laughed. He couldn't wait to tell Roxie that someone had finally gotten Jane all twisted up. It was about time.

R&I

"I hope the salad is enough for you," Angela said as she delivered Maura her lunch. "Jane didn't ask for anything specific so I just made you what you had last week and seemed to really like."

"This is perfect," Maura said. "Thank you. I could have at least come up to get it. You didn't have to bring it down to me."

"Oh I don't mind running down here," Angela said. "Besides, it gets me away from Stanley for a few minutes."

Maura went to reach for her wallet in her purse and Angela stopped her. "Nope," she said. "Jane already took care of that."

"She didn't need to," Maura replied.

"She wanted to," Angela answered back. "You know how she is."

Maura just nodded. "So," she started. "Do you have any idea where she's taking me tonight?" If Angela knew Maura as pretty convinced she could get it out of her.

"No," she answered frustratedly. "Apparently Jane thinks I can't be trusted with a secret." That still had Angela a little hot under the collar.

Maura snickered. Leave it to Jane to withhold it from Angela. She was sure Jane did that because she knew Maura would try to ask. "You can keep secrets Angela," Maura acknowledged as she knew first hand.

"Did she tell you anything about your date?" Angela asked.

"It's not a date," Maura tried to point out.

"It would be if you'd tell her you wanted it to be one," Angela fired back.

"I just can't," Maura answered.

"You need to," Angela replied. "You and I both know you are going to have to make the first move. God knows she won't do it."

"Angela," Maura sighed. "I know you think Jane feels the same about me. I know you believe that she would be completely open to our friendship evolving into something more but you've also admitted that Jane's never said to you that she feels something more for me and she has never told you she wants something more than friendship from me. So as much as you believe that things would be just fine if I told her that I'm in love with her, I'm just not as sure about that as you seem to be."

"Maura," Angela started but Maura continued.

"No. If you are wrong. If I am wrong and I tell Jane something she doesn't want to hear. I could lose her. And she means too much to me for me to let that happen. She's all I have Angela. Jane, you, the boys. You are my family and I won't risk that."

"Maura," Angela tried again to get the ME to listen to her. "Jane may not have said to me with words how she feels about you but that's only because Jane doesn't use those words in the first place. She does, however, show me, and you if you would simply open your eyes and see it, how she feels about you in the things she does for you. Her heart, young lady, is in her actions not her words."

Maua went to say something but found that she had no response.

"Now," Angela said as she made her way out of Maura's office, "you just think about that and if you do you may very well come to see that being honest with Jane may not be the risk you seem to believe it to be."

With that Angela walked out and headed back to the cafe. Any person riding in the elevator with the Rizzoli matriarch was treated to her mumbled utterances about how she had two of the most stubborn and generally clueless daughters on the planet and something about how much easier it was to raise boys.

R&I

Jane didn't have any luck at the mailbox place with the photo from the parking garage. The lady working did say that the shift manager might remember better than she would but he was off until Tuesday. It was a shot anyway. Jane knew the photos from Cedar Junction would be coming soon and Frost was running the photo through facial recognition as well. She was confident at some point they would get an ID on their prime suspect.

Not getting a warning text from Korsak that she needed to stay away longer Jane started to head back towards the station. She had stopped by her place to change her clothes and take Jo for a quick walk. She would have about two hours in which she could help Frost review the CSRU reports from the Nissan and that should also be plenty of time to get the recap from Vince about his conversation with Jennings. She had no idea if he would remember anything about the closed cases but it was worth a try.

She got to her desk and looked around for Vince but couldn't find him. She saw Frost was in the BRIC so she went to speak with him.

"What are you doing?" Jane asked as she took a seat next to her partner.

"We are at a standstill with the CSRU reports from the Nissan. They are still running the fibers and prints they found in the car but no matches yet. So I thought I'd go through the rest of the parking garage video and see if I can find anything more."

Jane sometimes hated the endless waiting that came with the job. They were always waiting for lab results, cell phone records or calls to be returned. "Finding anything with the video?"

"The Malibu was already parked on the fifth level when this video footage starts so it was there prior to 9 pm. I called the garage and they are going to do a playback to see when the car entered the garage. I'd like to see if it was driven there by the same guy who drove it and Allyson away."

"Good thinking," Jane said and smiled. She hadn't even thought about that. Let me know when you hear back from the garage." She looked around again before asking. "Have you seen Vince?"

"He went to lunch," Frost answered. Jane nodded and wondered how the conversation with Jennings had gone. Before she could ask Frost anything he was answering, "Jennings called and postponed until Monday."

"Did he say why?" Jane asked. She wasn't real happy to hear that the meeting was postponed. As much as she hadn't liked the idea of Jennings being pulled into one of her cases, she was hoping he might have some information that would help their case.

Jennings wouldn't be able to help with most of their unanswered questions but Jane had been hopeful that he might remember something about the 2002 cases that could help them develop a lead or two. A name or a gut instinct he may have had he never wrote down in a report. Something or someone who they could tie to Pelton.

At the very least she thought he could help with victimology. So for him to put off his interview with Vince was frustrating. The clock on this case was ticking and they didn't have time for postponements or rescheduled interviews. Not when there was the possibility of another victim that could happen in just over a week.

Frost shook his head. "He didn't say. Korsak wasn't real happy about it. If he was given an excuse I didn't get the impression he found it a very good one."

"Alright," Jane said trying not to get too annoyed. At this point there wasn't anything she could really do. "I'm going to see if the email has come from Cedar Junction yet."

Jane made her way back to her desk and checked her email. There were several emails from Cedar Junction. No photos yet but they had sent over Pelton's visitor logs for the last 18 months as well as correspondence they kept copies of that had been flagged as 'suspicious'.

Jane groaned slightly when she saw the size of the files that were sent over. She no longer needed to worry about what she was going to do until 5 pm rolled around. She was going to be lucky to make it through the first email before she needed to head out for the night.

**A/N 'Date' night will be tomorrow's chapter- promise**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Having gotten last minute assurances from both Frost and Korsak they could handle things for the rest of the night and with Jane's promise that she would be in tomorrow to finish going through the files sent from Cedar Junction, Jane turned off her computer and headed down to get Maura. She knew Maura had brought a change of clothes with her so they wouldn't have to stop back at Maura's place before heading out. Jane had changed earlier in the day now simply sporting jeans and a t-shirt.

She stepped off the elevator and headed for the ME's office. She was surprised that she hadn't been able to shake her nerves yet. She was starting to feel a little ridiculous. Maybe she really was all twisted up. There shouldn't be anything to be nervous about. She went places with Maura all the time and she kept trying convince herself that there was nothing different about tonight as she walked the last few feet to Maura's office door.

Walking into the office Maura was nowhere to be found but the door to her private bathroom was closed and Jane assumed Maura was getting changed.

"Maur," Jane said loud enough for her voice to carry through the closed bathroom door. "I'm here but take your time."

She looked around and thought for a brief moment about taking a seat to wait for the doctor until she remembered her chair options. Maura's tastes in decorating may very well have been refined but that refinement left much to be desired in the comfort category. Her office furniture was anything but inviting. The only decent option seemed to be Maura's desk chair but Jane just couldn't bring herself to sit there so she remained standing.

As Maura exited the bathroom she smiled at the sight of Jane. Jane had her back to the bathroom door and was glancing at some of the titles of the books Maura had in her bookcase. Maura watched Jane for a moment and found it amusing that she seemed unable to stand still. She was swaying slightly shifting her weight from side to side. Maura's first assessment was that it was a form of nervous energy.

"You could have at least sat down," Maura said getting Jane's attention.

"Not on what you try to pass off as furniture," Jane answered as she was turning around. Once she turned Maura came into full view and Jane's breath hitched. She couldn't help it and she certainly couldn't stop it. The woman in front of her was breathtaking.

Maura was very casually dressed considering Jane's one wardrobe request. She wore a black button down blouse with a white camisole underneath and jeans. It was the best match to the sneakers she wore. There was nothing fancy about what she had chosen but Jane wasn't sure if she had ever seen the woman look better. Maura always looked impeccable in anything she had on but Jane always seemed to think less was more for the ME.

"You look great," Jane said managing to get her mouth to start working as she was hoping Maura hadn't noticed her reaction.

"This was the best I could do to go along with these," Maura replied pointing down to her shoes.

"Your best is perfect," Jane replied. They just stared at each other for a moment. "Are you ready?" Jane asked desperately wanting to move away from any conversation about how she looked.

"I most certainly am," Maura answered. "Now that it is officially Friday night, will you please tell me where we are going?"

Jane smiled. "Because you've been so patient this week," she started and didn't hide her sarcasm, "I'll consider telling you along the way."

Maura couldn't help the pout. That wasn't really much of an answer and she had a feeling that Jane was going to milk the surprise portion of their evening for as long as she could. Before she could really protest Jane had grabbed Maura's purse and was ushering her to the door.

"Come on," she said as they made their way out towards the parking garage. "We've got some place to be."

R&I

They had been driving for about twenty minutes and Maura still didn't have a clue as to where they were heading. Their trip seemed to be somewhat slowed by pockets of Boston's rush hour traffic. As nervous as Jane seemed to be back in her office, Maura noticed the slow moving traffic didn't seem to be annoying her. She supposed that Jane had either factored in the congestion into her timing or they didn't have any sort of set reservation to make.

The twenty minutes had been filled with casual conversation. Maura gave up questions about the night after about five minutes of non-answers or deflections from Jane. So they just settled into their normal conversation. The two women were very different in many ways but they never had any problems finding things to talk about when they were together. As the conversation carried on through the traffic Maura had almost let herself forget that they were driving towards some mystery location.

But suddenly Jane turned the conversation towards their impending night. "So," Jane started. "I know you are wondering what we are going to be doing tonight."

"I've been curious," Maura admitted with a smile.

"You'll see soon enough," Jane said and had to laugh when a groan escaped from Maura. "Seriously, we are almost there."

"Which would be?" Maura tried to coax out of Jane.

"First I want to explain something about why we are going where we are going," Jane said. She took a breath and started to explain. "I know we always spend Fridays getting takeout and watching movies."

"I love our movie night," Maura interjected not sure if Jane was changing things up because she was afraid Maura didn't want to do that anymore. She did love movie night. They had fallen into a pattern of the movie and takeout tradition which was more than fine for her. Fridays had been the one night of the week that unless there was an unusually involved case Maura was guaranteed time with Jane. She had never cared about what they did as long as they did it together.

"I love our movie nights too," Jane reassured Maura. "But I got to thinking the other night that it wouldn't hurt for us to mix things up a little bit from time to time. I don't want you to ever think I take the time we spend together for granted."

Maura was surprised to hear Jane say that. "Jane," she started, "I would never think something like that."

Jane smiled and looked over at Maura. "Well, I'm glad because any time I get to spend with you is very important to me."

Jane pulled off the highway and they were now driving through a neighborhood Maura did not recognize. She had been trying to pay attention to where Jane was driving in hopes of guessing their destination but she was not familiar with any of her surroundings.

"I wanted us to do something special together so I decided it was time to do one of the things I know you missed out on as kid. Something I used to love to do and I want you to experience it too," Jane said looking over at Maura.

This wasn't the first time Jane had tried to give Maura an experience she missed growing up. Several years ago Jane had compiled a list of things she felt Maura had missed out on from her childhood but still needed to experience. Jane had decided to make it her mission to make up for things Maura never had the chance to do either because she was away at boarding school or simply because her parents never thought to take her to do it.

The two had slowly worked through some the items on Jane's list. The items ranged from things she needed to do, shows she needed to watch and even foods she needed to eat. As apprehensive as she was in the beginning, Maura had come to love working through Jane's list. Not only did it allow her to have some of the experiences she had missed out on during her childhood but she had been able to experience all these things with Jane. Which as far as Maura was concerned made each experience better than it would have been had she done it as a child without Jane.

As Maura began to mentally run down the list to activities she knew were still on the list, Jane pulled into a parking area signaling their arrival to their destination. Maura looked around but from the outside she couldn't tell where they were at or what was in store for her. All she saw was a building and a sign that told her they were at some place called Chez Vous but the building's sign just served to confuse her.

"What is this place?" Maura asked as Jane parked the car and started to get out.

Jane waited for Maura to exit the car and they headed towards the doors. "This is where I spent most of my pre-teen years," Jane answered. Maura watched as Jane stopped and knocked on the door instead of pulling it open to enter. "I hope you are ready for this Dr. Isles," Jane teased.

Before Maura could ask a question the front door opened and they were both greeted by an older gentleman. "Right on time Rizzoli," he said and held the doors open for both ladies.

"Traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," Jane said to the man Maura had yet to be introduced to. Turning to Maura Jane worked to correct that. "Maura, meet Jake, an old friend of mine as well as the owner of this establishment. Jake, this is Maura, my best friend and Boston's Chief Medical Examiner."

Jake smiled warmly and extended his hand to Maura who accepted it and smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you," Jake said to Maura.

"Nice to meet you," Maura replied.

They moved further into the building and once they got inside Maura finally understood what the picture on the awning outside had meant. They were at a roller rink. She let her eyes scan her surroundings. There was a large open floor with wooden railings all around the outside and Maura could see multi-colored bars of light mounted on the ceiling. Off to the side there were several benches and what looked like an arcade and snack area. On the other side there was a long counter behind which were shelves with an endless supply of roller skates.

Jane led Maura over towards the benches and told her to sit down indicating that she was going to be right back. She sat down and finally realized that she hadn't stopped smiling since they had entered the rink and she realized what they were going to be doing. As she sat there, she also finally realized that they seemed to have the entire place to themselves.

Jane returned with several items in her hands. "Jane, why are we the only ones here?" Maura asked looking around.

"Because Jake is technically closed right now," Jane said as she stood in front of Maura and placed everything she was holding down on the bench.

"Then why are we here?" she wondered.

Jane snickered. "Jake is doing me a favor. They don't officially open on Fridays until 8 pm. For several reasons, I didn't think coming here when they were open tonight was a good idea."

As she spoke Jane squatted down in front of Maura and began to undo the laces on the shoes Maura was wearing. Maura, still taking in her surroundings, barely noticed this. "What reasons?"

"For starters, Friday nights are 'Teen Night' and I'm way too old to try to keep up with teenagers," Jane admitted with a chuckle. "Plus, this place gets crowded and loud and I wanted you to enjoy your time on wheels without the hassle of crowds."

Jane finished removing Maura's shoes and examined Maura's socks. When she told Maura her dress code hint of sneakers she had done so to get Maura into jeans and socks. She had been afraid if she just said casual or jeans Maura would have still tried to wear some version of a dress shoe. But, as she looked at the socks Maura had chosen she knew they wouldn't do for roller skating. Too thin. Luckily she had come prepared for such a possibility.

As Jane proceeded to pull off the socks the ME was wearing, Maura finally seemed to realize Jane was removing her shoes and socks and looked at her. "Don't you think I will need the socks?" she asked.

Jane held up a different pair of socks that were much thicker than what she had been wearing. "Trust me, these are better for skating." She handed them to Maura to put on while she went to grab one of the skates. Maura noticed immediately that the skate in Jane's hand was brand new.

"Why are these new and all those," she said pointing to the shelves of roller skates behind the counter, "look like they are twenty years old?"

"For the same reason I got you your own pair of shoes when I took you bowling for the first time," Jane casually replied as she was working on lacing up the new skates. "There's no way I would make you suffer through an encounter with germ infested rental shoes. Or skates in this particular case." She smiled at Maura. "Oh and I also wanted to avoid another lecture on the hazards of E. coli."

"Escherichia coli can be quite harmful," Maura pointed out. "Not to mention Serratia ficaria and Klebsiella pneumonia both of which are common bacteria found inside of shoes that are not properly maintained."

"Which, again, is why you are sporting a brand new set of wheels. I can't have Serrate ficaro and Club-silly pneumonia threatening you," Jane answered. She had finished with the laces on the new skates and as she talked she gently slipped Maura's right foot into the new skate. Once her foot was in place, Jane worked to tighten and tie the laces. She then did the same thing with Maura's left skate.

Maura watched as Jane situated the new skates onto her feet. She could easily have put the skates on herself but there was something about the process of watching Jane take care of it for her that mesmerized her. She suddenly recalled what Angela had said to her earlier.

"_Jane may not have said to me with words how she feels about you but that's only because Jane doesn't use those words in the first place. She does, however, show me, and you if you would simply open your eyes and see it, how she feels about you in the things she does for you. Her heart, young lady, is in her actions not her words."_

Maura was beginning to see what Angela was talking about.

"You know I do own a pair of rollerblades," Maura pointed out as Jane finished tying the last skate. "You could have just brought them here."

"True," Jane admitted. "But since we are going for the true roller skating experience here I decided you needed side by side wheels and not in-line skates. We are doing this right and back in the day skates looked like mini cars not ice skates."

Before Jane stood back up she leaned closer into Maura and used her hands to check and squeeze Maura's skates making sure she had bought the correct size for her. "Are you good?" she asked. Maura simply nodded as she was pretty sure having Jane this close to her had rendered her incapable of speech. Once she was sure everything seemed to fit properly she quickly switched out of her shoes and into rented skates for herself.

Maura glared at her as she was lacing up her last skate. "Don't," she warned without making eye contact with the doctor. "Just like I told you with the bowling shoes, they spray disinfectant and I will be fine." Unlike Maura Jane didn't have a fear of unpronounceable bacteria.

"Then why do I get new skates?" she pushed trying to make a point.

"Because you're you," Jane answered as if that magically explained everything. Without letting Maura get back into the bacterial growth that was no doubt occurring in Jane's skates, Jane stood up and took Maura's hand in hers leading her out onto the floor. "Come on. Let's skate."

R&I

Both ladies took a slow, careful lap around the rink to test out their skates and their sense of balance. It had been a long time since Jane had been on roller skates. They both would rollerblade on occasion but in many ways this was different. About halfway through their second time around the rink Jane was pretty comfortable with her balance and focused on Maura. Maura, too, seemed to be handling herself in the skates quite well and looked comfortable. With their comfort set, Jane knew it was time to kick it up a notch.

As they skated past the counter Jane hollered out. "Alright Jake, show us what you got."

Within a few seconds the lights over the rink dimmed and a song started to play. Jane recognized the tune within the first few bars and couldn't contain the smile.

"What?" Maura asked as she had seen Jane's sudden smile.

"Just listen," Jane said not wanting to explain quite yet. She was fairly certain that the song wouldn't mean anything to Maura as she may not have heard it before so Jane just wanted her to listen and take in the whole experience. As far as Jane was concerned this was the quintessential roller rink song. She would explain later if she needed to.

The song continued to play and the multi-colored light bars that Maura had noticed when she walked in started to light up. Each bar would flash on and off somewhat to the beat and rhythm of the music. As Maura tried to take it all in, Jane skated closer to her so they could talk.

"You really spent a lot of your time here?" she asked.

Jane smiled still enjoying the sounds of Queen's 'Another One Bites the Dust'. "Practically every weekend when I was younger," Jane said. "When I was twelve, this was the place to be on Friday and Saturday night."

They continued to skate side by side in a circle as the music and lights all worked to set a mood Maura had never quite experienced but found appealing.

As the next song Jake had selected started Jane decided to put her roller skating skills to the test and turned so she was now skating backwards. She wanted to talk with Maura and figured this way she could talk and be facing her at the same time. Based on the look Maura greeted her with, she seemed to have impressed the ME with the maneuver.

"Back then this rink was like our own private world. From the ages of twelve to thirteen at least. There was just something magical about this place. Perhaps it was that age more than anything else. At twelve you are still just a kid but you were convinced you were so grown up. The high school kids all had cars and went to parties or cruised the city streets. The junior high kids took over the rec center each weekend. The twelve year olds got the roller rink.

"Dropped off by parents, away from teachers and chaperones, removed from the structure and rules of school, there was a sense of independence that this place brought. This was a safe little bubble where we all could come and let the dramas of our lives play out. Or as much drama one could find in the life of a twelve year old anyway."

Maura watched Jane's facial expressions as she both talked fondly about the past and tried to concentrate on skating backwards. She was completely captivated by the detective. Perhaps it was their surroundings. The lights, the music, the nostalgia. But Maura understood all too well that it mostly was due to Jane. Just Jane.

"The entire life cycle of pre-teen romances would play out here for everyone to witness. Simple, innocent crushes become these epic romances which at that age basically meant the boy you had a crush on become the one you skated with for the boy-girl skates. That was the height of the budding romance. A couple of laps around the rink holding hands skating to a cheesy love ballad. If one of them could manage there was even the daring couples that showed off with one skating backwards. That got the girl's hands up on the guy's shoulders and the boy's hands on the girl's hips.

"And then, without fail, within a few weeks that 'relationship' would have its demise play out with some tragic argument that would pit your friends against his friends and always seemed to end up with the girl crying in the bathroom while the boy bragged he had been the one who caused the emotional fallout. But once the girl had shed her last tear she would skate a few laps and always manage to find that next new crush and the tragic love cycle would start over once again."

Maura smiled as she listened to Jane reminisce about her past. As Jane spoke she tried to picture a twelve year old Jane skating here with friends and even having some of those first innocent crushes. "You cried in the bathroom?" she couldn't help but ask. She just couldn't seem to picture that as Jane was talking.

Jane laughed. "No," she said. "I was the exception to that particular piece of the ritual."

"How did you manage to get so lucky?" she asked. A part of her wondered what foolish boy would ever break up with Jane in the first place.

"It wasn't luck," they both heard Jake's voice shout out as they passed by the counter. Both ladies slowed down and looked at the older man. "Jane ended her ill-fated romances with a wicked left hook."

They had stopped skating and Maura turned to Jane. "No," she exclaimed. Although as she thought about it she could easily picture Jane doing something like that more than she could picture her crying in a bathroom.

"Yes," Jane proudly admitted.

"That one there built herself quite a reputation as being more of a nose breaker than a heart breaker," Jake added with a laugh.

"Hey," Jane said defensively, "it was only one nose and he deserved it."

Jake snickered at Jane's correction. "If my memory serves me correctly that nose belonged Tony Ashton."

"You would be correct," Jane said. "And like I said, he totally deserved it."

Maura had watched the exchange between Jake and Jane completely amused. "What did this Tony Ashton do?" she just had to know.

"The jerk told all his friends he kissed me out in the parking lot," Jane said. "No one seemed to believe him after I decked him in the middle of the rink." She pointed out to Maura about where they had been standing when it apparently had gone down.

"Maura," Jake warned, "you be careful around this one. I'm not so sure she's changed her evil ways."

Maura smiled. "I think I'll take my chances," she answered him back.

Jane took Maura's hand and pulled her back towards the middle of the rink. "Come on Maur," she said. "We've still got some skating to do."

R&I

After another song ended Maura asked Jane to teach her how to skate backwards. It took a few minutes but Maura picked up on the basic idea fairly quickly only having some issues with turning while going backwards. After two more songs she was almost a pro.

Jake's voice came over the PA system. "Alright Rizzoli, you know what's next and you can't get out of it."

Jane groaned, "Jake," she hollered. "I never agreed to that," she protested.

Jake leaned his head out from behind the counter. "You asked for my help creating the roller skating experience for the lovely Dr. Isles. This is a necessary part of that roller skating experience. So shut up and get in the middle."

Jane pouted but seemed to be complying as she pulled Maura towards the middle of the rink. Maura had no idea what either of them was talking about but she had a feeling she was about to find out.

"As much as I hate to admit it, the old man is right," Jane said to Maura.

"Right about what?" Maura asked still not understanding what was about to happen.

"For the record, if you tell a single living soul about what we are about to do I promise you I will haunt you from beyond the grave." Jane warned in a sudden seriousness that Maura immediately understood meant she wasn't kidding.

"What is it that we are about to do?" Maura asked in excited anticipation. Jane never threatened her like that unless it was something extremely embarrassing.

"Watch me once and then follow along," was Jane's only answer. "And you will follow along as I refuse to be the only one that does this," she warned once more.

Before Maura could ask another question music filled the rink. Maura looked at Jane not sure what it was she was supposed to be watching.

_You put your right foot in...you put your right foot out._  
_You put your right foot and you shake it all about._

Maura watched in awe as Jane complied with verbal instructions with her right foot.

_You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself about….that's what it's all about._

At the sight of Jane turning all the way around while doing what apparently was called the 'Hokey Pokey', Maura burst out laughing. The image was not only priceless it was hysterical.

_Left foot!_

Suddenly Jane was about to start again and she looked at Maura. "You are doing this too," she demanded.

_You put your left foot in….you put your left foot out  
You put your left foot in and you shake it all about._

Maura had not yet joined in and Jane gave her the evil eye. "Not an option here Isles. You will do this with me," she insisted as she hokey pokeyed and turned around. Maura again laughed but when Jane gave her the glare a third time she knew she needed to try to follow along.

_Right arm!_

Jane was relieved to see Maura finally stop just laughing at her and start following the directions. By the time the song got to the right elbow, both ladies were fully participating but also laughing at each other and at themselves. By the time the 'backside' part was called out both were laughing so hard neither managed to be able to stay on their feet Maura falling before Jane but not by much.

It took a few minutes for the two of them to stop laughing and compose themselves enough to be able to get up. Jane was up first and she helped Maura to her feet.

"Oh my," Maura said as her breathing was finally coming back to normal. "I can't believe you did that."

"Every time I was here," Jane admitted.

"No," Maura corrected. "I can't believe you did that just now. That was fabulous."

"Like Jake said," Jane pointed out. "The entire roller skating experience."

With that Jake's voice shouted out again, "Last skate Rizzoli. I need to get ready for actual paying customers."

"Got it," Jane hollered and then turned to Maura. "One last song around?" she asked.

Maura nodded as a song started to play and the lights turned almost all the way down. The rink got darker than it had before and only a few soft, white lights lit up. Jane started to let go of the hand she still held from helping Maura up but felt Maura's grip tighten. She didn't seem willing to release Jane's hand. Jane looked down at their hands and then up at Maura and they both seemed to lock onto each other's eyes.

"The entire roller skating experience?" Maura asked softly.

Jane now seemed to be unable to find her voice so she nodded wondering what Maura meant.

Seeing Jane nod Maura released Jane's hand only to put both her arms up near Jane's shoulders with her hands reaching behind Jane's neck. Instinctively, Jane's hands settled in on Maura's hips and they started to resume skating what would be their last skate.

The song, 'Faithfully' by Journey, filled the rink and the ladies quietly skated several final laps. Jane skating backwards as she had more experience. They skated in silence but their eyes never left each other. They both seemed to get lost in each other barely even aware of their surroundings.

It took Jake raising the lights for the two of them to realize the song had ended. Reluctantly, they broke apart from each other. They were on the opposite end of the rink from the benches and as the two made their way back to the benches, Maura reached down and took hold of Jane's hand. She didn't let it go until they sat down to undo their skates. Skates were removed and shoes put back on. All still in a calm silence.

Jake came over to retrieve Jane's skates and say his goodbyes. "Maura," he said with a smile. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Maura replied. "Thank you for this. I've never done this before and I had an amazing time." She was looking more at Jane when she spoke than at Jake.

He walked the ladies to the door. "Don't you two be strangers now," he said. "Adult skate is Sunday afternoons."

Both women just nodded as they headed out the door after Jane thanked him one last time for everything he did.

As the two walked away he couldn't help but shake his head. He was just happy he got to meet the lady that had Jane all twisted up and he was even happier that he was going to get to tell his wife he had a pretty good idea as to why.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

From the roller rink, the two headed for dinner. As much as Jane wanted to treat Maura to a nice dinner out in the type of restaurant she normally complained about any time Maura would attempt to suggest such a thing, she knew that their casual dress prevented that from happening. So, instead, she settled for a place she knew they both enjoyed but suited their current attire.

Dinner had been nice and relaxed. The conversation was animate and engaging as the two carried the enjoyment that the skating had created all throughout dinner. It had been a wonderful night for them both. The drive back to Maura's, however, was mostly in a prevalent but not uncomfortable silence. Both women seemed to be somewhat lost in their own thoughts and reflections upon the night.

As Jane drove she kept replaying the night. She couldn't help but smile when images of Maura skating and enjoying herself flashed through her mind. It was clear that Maura had enjoyed the experience and Jane finally could relax knowing she had chosen wisely. The ease of Maura's laughter through their time at the rink was one of the things Jane had hoped the evening would accomplish.

But her mind wandered away from Maura's enjoyment of the night and settled onto her own. She wasn't quite prepared for her own reactions to the night. She knew she would feel good simply from making Maura happy but there was something more. Their closeness at several points during the night had taken her by surprise. It wasn't the closeness that surprised her. It was her complete comfort with it that did.

She hadn't planned on putting on Maura's skates for her. That just sort of happened. It was innocent and spontaneous but there was just something that felt natural as she did it. Just like she hadn't planned on Maura holding her hand as frequently as she had or for as long as she had.

Her hands were always a sensitive subject for Jane. The damage Hoyt inflicted with his scalpels was both physical and emotional for Jane. Between the physical scarring on her hands to the pain she continued to feel especially in cold, damp weather there was a constant physical reminder of one of the few times Jane had been a victim in her life.

But the emotional scarring from her encounter with Hoyt was always worse for Jane. Quite simply because she had been a victim. The scars on her hands served to remind Jane of her own weakness. Her own vulnerability. The scars representing a chink in the normally strong armor she projected for the rest of the world to see.

People didn't touch her hands. She never offered an explanation to strangers who found the extension of their hand unmet by her own. Those who knew her understood not to even offer theirs or attempt to take hers. She refused to allow others to feel what Jane tended to view as Hoyt's personal brand.

There were two exceptions in Jane's life when it came to her hands. Her mother was one of those exceptions. It wasn't a frequent occurrence and Jane disliked it whenever it would happen but she wouldn't pull her hands away from her mother. That hadn't always been the case. When everything first happened Jane had been adamant about refusing any of Angela's help or her touch. But Angela could be very persistent and she eventually managed to break through Jane's walls.

The other exception was Maura and she had been an exception from the very start. From the beginning, Jane had a belief that Maura wouldn't hold her injured hands or what they represented against her. She trusted that Maura would neither judge her nor define her by them. She had never pulled away from Maura's touch quite simply because Maura's touch always made her feel safe.

Holding Maura's hand after their final skate that night, Jane was reminded of how secure she felt in Maura's presence. She didn't even think twice about Maura's hand in her own. Her trust in Maura was absolute and it was a feeling she felt with no one person.

While Jane had always felt secure with Maura in regards to her hands, she was completely surprised by her reaction to the closeness they shared during their final skate. They had basically skated in a near embrace and to Jane it had felt so incredibly right. While she hadn't planned on ending their night that way she had thoroughly enjoyed the moment.

She wasn't sure what Maura had initially meant when she asked about the entire roller skating experience but when Jane suddenly found herself being pulled into Maura she didn't move away. Instead she marveled in how it felt to be staring down into Maura's eyes, having Maura's arms wrapped around her neck and her hands resting comfortably on Maura's hips.

It should have been awkward. It should have been scary. Instead, it was simply perfect.

Jane hadn't felt nervous or scared. She hadn't wanted to end the contact or look away. She got completely lost in the moment skating with Maura. Instead of panic, she felt exhilarated. She hadn't wanted the song to end. Had Jake not turned on the lights and said something, she could have stayed that way the rest of the night.

As they skated together for that final skate she knew there were truths she could no longer deny. The truth of how special she felt simply by being with Maura was. The truth that she was jealous of anyone who spent time with Maura. The truth that Maura's touch offered more than just security. That she actually responded to Maura's touch in a way in which she never responded to another's. That Maura's touch seemed to hold a promise of what could be if only she opened herself up to the possibility.

All the things she knew but had tried to deny for quite some time. Each one she had tried over time and with varying degrees of success to ignore. But in those moments tonight, almost wrapped in Maura's arms, she couldn't seem to remember why it was she had tried to deny it all in the first place. Understanding that, however, left one rather large question.

Would she have the courage to ask for what she wanted from the woman sitting next to her?

R&I

The thoughts that occupied Maura as the two made their way towards the home in Beacon Hill also seemed to revolve around courage. Maura knew how she felt about Jane. She had come to that understanding long ago. A night like tonight only seemed to both confirm and intensify her feelings for the detective.

There was no doubt in her mind that she was in love with Jane. Her doubts were never about how she felt but whether that love would be returned by Jane. She knew Jane loved her. But loving someone and being in love with someone were vastly different. Within the enormity of that difference was where Maura typically found herself lost.

As the night replayed for her she found she drifted back to two distinct moments. The first being the care shown by Jane with regards to the skates. Maura was fully aware that there was a gentle side to Jane that very few others were ever allowed to see. For some reason the detective seemed to believe softness would be perceived by others as weakness. And Jane was determined not to have people view her as weak.

But Jane never seemed to hide her softer side from Maura. In fact it manifested itself in interesting ways. The skates from tonight was just another example she would add to her always growing list. The thought and care she put into not only making the purchase of new skates to account for Maura's germ phobia but the gentleness in which she placed the skates on Maura's feet would be something Maura would remember for a lifetime.

If Angela was right. If Jane used actions to demonstrate her feelings more than words then Maura found herself developing a newfound sense of hope after tonight. The love and care Jane made her feel through that one act was stronger than anything she had felt in a long time. Maura remembered thinking she was grateful she had been seated in those moments for she was sure her legs would have given out had she been standing.

The second moment she lingered on was their final skate. She could have let Jane go. Let the moment pass. But there was just something so perfect about the moment that she found she acted before she could hesitate. She had wanted to be closer to Jane. She just wanted a physical connection to Jane.

She knew it was a bit of a risk trying to get closer to the woman she so desired. Jane could have pulled away and she would have had to deal with a rejection she wasn't ready to face. But in that moment she refused to allow uncertainty or fear stand in the way of what she wanted.

Wrapping her arms around Jane's neck and having Jane respond by pulling her in closer and placing her hands on Maura's hips was better than anything Maura could ever have imagined. Her entire body reacted to not only Jane's touch but how freely she seemed to give it.

Jane hadn't pulled away. Hadn't looked away when their eyes met during the last song. Jane was as in the moment as Maura was and as far as Maura was concerned that moment was perfect.

As Maura analyzed the evening she felt this was the closest she had ever been to believing that Jane felt more from her than friendship. The closeness the two shared towards the end of the night, a closeness Jane didn't appear to question or turn away from, had given Maura a sense of hope. Hope that what she truly wanted was now within reach.

She just needed to find the courage to tell Jane that was what she wanted. She wanted to consider the night a date. The start of something more between them. The possibility of a future together. But as they pulled into the drive of her home she had no idea if she possessed that kind of courage.

R&I

Jane parked the car and they both still sat in silence. It was Maura who spoke first. "Do you want to come in for a drink?" They both seemed to realize how quiet their car ride home had been upon hearing the first spoken words in over fifteen minutes.

"Sure," Jane answered. They both smiled as it appeared neither was looking to end the night despite the lull in their conversation.

They exited the car and entered the house through the side door. Maura turned on some lights and they both made their way into the kitchen. Maura opened the refrigerator and pulled out a beer for Jane which she handed to the detective. She then got herself a glass of wine.

While beverages were secured neither made a move to leave the kitchen. Jane seemed content to lean up against the kitchen island and Maura settled in across from her. Silence again filled the space around them.

"I…"

"Did….."

They both started to speak at the exact same time. Laughing lightly they smiled at each other. "You first," Maura said to Jane.

"Did you have a good time tonight?" Jane asked quietly. She was certain of the answer but seemed to want to ask the question anyway.

Her question was rewarded with her favorite smile. "I had a fabulous time," Maura answered. "Of all the things I imagined we might do tonight, roller skating was not one of them. But it was perfect. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, Maur," Jane replied. "I simply wanted you to have a good night and if I managed to find something that you enjoyed well that's thanks enough for me. I was a little nervous that you would find it corny."

"It was unexpected Jane," Maura answered, "but it was far from corny. Although I will admit that 'Hokey Pokey' bit was a little cheesy." The image of Jane's rendition made Maura laugh.

While Jane smiled she also warned, "From the grave Maura." The amount of crap she would take from the guys or her family if Maura ever let it slip that she had done that would be epic.

Maura, still laughing, held up her hand and promised, "Not a word." There were certain moments from her interactions with Jane that were hers and hers alone. That would always be one of them.

They both took a few slips from their drinks and again silence washed over them. It wasn't awkward but there seemed to a recognition by them both that something was being left unsaid. Both women stood there looking at the other believing that it was she who wasn't starting the conversation. It appeared as if each was chickening out.

"I…."

"Do….."

For the second time since returning to Maura's they both spoke at the same again. It elicited the same response only this time it was Jane who offered "You first."

"Do you want to stay over?" Maura asked. Their normal routine on a Friday night was take out and one or two movies. They tended to spend the night at whoever's place they settled into. Considering that they had skipped the movies and hadn't really spent their night on a couch, Maura wasn't sure if Jane had wanted to stay over.

Jane released a sigh. "I should go home tonight," she said not hiding a hint of disappointment. "I need to go into the station tomorrow." They were expecting the information from Cedar Junction, the additional video footage from the parking garage and the last of the CSRU lab reports from Allyson's car to be available.

Maura nodded. While she understood she realized that Jane's leaving meant they wouldn't be getting into any heart to heart conversation. Not that she was even sure she could have started one.

Jane carried her barely touched beer over to the sink and poured it out. She then turned to Maura. "It was important to me that you had a good night," she said softly.

"I did just that," Maura reassured. It was clear Jane was heading out so Maura moved to walk her to the door.

As they both made their way to the side door, both reached out for the door handle at the same time which resulted in Maura's hand coming to rest on top of Jane's. Neither withdrew their hand but instead just looked at each other.

"Good night," Maura said just loud enough for Jane to hear.

"Good night," Jane answered back just as softly.

Still neither moved.

And then, for the fourth time that evening, both ladies started the same movement at the exact same time. Only this time, it ended with their lips finding the others.

R&I

The kiss was slow and hesitant from them both at first. In those first fractions of seconds, neither seemed to be sure if this was what the other wanted. So both seemed to be holding back.

But as those fractions of seconds ticked by and neither gave any hint of pulling back or breaking away, Jane stepped into Maura and pulled her in a little closer. That was all Maura needed and she fully committed to the kiss. She had wanted this for so long she now refused to be timid. She would deal with the consequences later.

The kiss picked up in tempo and intensity. Jane marveled in the softness of Maura's lips. Maura was enticed by the taste of Jane's. They both let themselves get lost in each other until the kiss finally come to its natural conclusion.

Jane slowly, reluctantly pulled away from Maura and immediately worked to find her eyes. She needed to know if there was any regret or uncertainty within Maura. But as soon as she found her favorite shade of hazel she had her answer. The smile on Maura's face and the glint in her eyes was all Jane needed to see to know Maura had wanted the kiss to happen.

Maura had worried about the same thing. She met Jane's eyes and just hoped not to see panic etched in the brown orbs looking back at her. The relief she felt when she was able to take in Jane's expression was indescribable. Jane's eyes as well as her entire demeanor was calm almost serene.

"I've wanted to do that for a very long time," Maura quietly admitted.

Jane gave a light chuckle. "I've wanted you to do that for a very long time."

They both smiled at each other but neither was exactly sure what to do or say next. It was clear that they both had wanted to take this step.

Surprising herself, Jane gently placed her hand on Maura's cheek and pulled her in for a second kiss. This time the hesitancy was absent from them both. The kiss was firmer and it felt as if their lips were more familiar with the others. The kiss carried an intensity to it not necessarily from a level of passion but more from a level of exhilaration.

Again, the kiss carried itself through to its natural conclusion but not before it managed to leave both women breathless. As they broke apart Jane rested her forehead against Maura's if only to continue the contact between them for a few moments longer.

"I should go," Jane said somewhat reluctant but still knowing that she should.

"Alright," Maura conceded.

Again, neither woman moved.

Until Maura stretched herself up to capture the set of lips that occupied countless dreams one more time.

Their third and final kiss for the night didn't disappoint either one of them. Instead, it left them both with an absolute belief that everything was about to change for them and was also enough that neither appeared to be afraid of that change.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Jane was up early to head into the station. In truth, she hadn't really slept too much the night before. She wasn't able to quiet her mind once she got home from Maura's. She had kissed Maura. More than once. And Maura kissed her back. How was she supposed to get any sleep after something like that had happened?

As much as she wanted to let her mind linger on the details of the night before she knew she needed to turn her concentration to their current case. Jane had always been very successful over the years at balancing work and personal. She knew she would be able to give her attention to the case and focus on all of the information that would be made available on that day. Just as she knew she would spend time later thinking about the incredible night she had with Maura and what it could mean for them.

She was the first into the office that morning. That was as it should be. Both Korsak and Frost had stayed later yesterday working while she took the night to be with Maura so she hadn't expected to see either of her partners until later in the day.

She got to her desk and checked her email. She had been looking to see if they had been sent the photos from Cedar Junction but they had not yet done so. Korsak seemed certain that they should have the photos sometime today. Even though they could not confirm the actual identity of Walter Stills they really did need to know if the man they watched abduct Allyson Montgomery was Stills or did they have a second man they needed to attempt to identify.

Not seeing any new emails from Cedar Junction, Jane decided to finish reviewing the materials they emailed over to her yesterday. She hadn't looked through the visitors log for Pelton over the last 18 months as she had started working on the copies of letters the prison intercepted both to and from Pelton. Jane had wanted to review the questionable exerts to see if she could find any that might point towards the crime she was investigating. She would review the visitor's log after that.

What she was able to get through yesterday had been odd but nothing Jane necessarily felt helped her cause. So far the letters she had read weren't, in her opinion, written in any sort of code. They seemed to be more like incomplete conversations. It was clear that both Pelton and Stills, who was the only recipient of letters Jane had read to that point, seemed aware that prison official would be reading everything and they worked to keep their topics as vague as possible.

The prison had sent the files over in three emails. Jane had gotten through the first two emails the day before and as she settled into her desk she starting to go through the last file. As she read through the letters, she found it was much of the same thing. The prison seemed to being erring on the side of caution by what they flagged. While Jane didn't understand a lot of what she was reading as it was completely lacking in context, she hadn't seen anything that even remotely connected the letters and murder. Not any references to Pelton's crimes and certainly nothing about the murder she was investigating.

As she worked her way through the last of the email files, she was a little disappointed that there wasn't any letters from or to someone other than Stills. Since they did not know who Stills really was she was hoping to find another name in the files. Perhaps another possible lead. But to that point there wasn't anyone else.

Frost had struck out on family members for Pelton. His parents were deceased and he was an only child. While they were able to find records of two uncles, an aunt and a handful of cousins, none of them lived in or near Boston and it didn't appear as if they ever had much to do with Pelton. That left friends and outside of Jane's review of the last email and an examination of the visitor logs there didn't seem to be much luck with that either.

Jane worked her way through the last of the letters getting slightly frustrated that there didn't seem to be anything of use to her. She had about three more letters to get through when she finally read something that could be of help.

"_Remember Walter- the eyes are more than the window to the soul. They are its gatekeeper. Possess the eyes and you possess the soul"_

It wasn't much and there was certainly no context to it but it was the first thing Jane had read in the three emails full of writings where their known killer had made a reference to their prime suspect that they could link to Montgomery. Sure it was circumstantial but Jane would take what she could get.

Montgomery's eyes were removed. Pelton had killed two women ten years ago removing their eyes for an unknown reason and now she had a written reference from Pelton to the man they believed was their prime suspect about possessing eyes. Optimistic, Jane worked her way through the rest of writings but didn't find any other reference to eyes or anything else she could use.

She needed to get the photos from Cedar Junction. She checked her email again but the file still had not arrived. She sighed in frustration but turned her attention to the prison visitor's log. They had sent their records for the previous 18 months. As Jane flipped through the pages she found only three names.

Walter Stills was by far Pelton's most frequent visitor. He visited Pelton once a month from the beginning of the records. But, just like Korsak's contact had said, the visits stopped six months ago.

Pelton had two other visitors during that time frame. A Peter Manning had made three visits each about six months apart from each other. According to the logs, Manning was listed as legal counsel for Pelton. Jane made a note to check on Manning. Due to attorney client privilege she doubted that he would be able to disclose the nature of the work he may be doing for Pelton but they could investigate the lawyer to see if he or his firm specialized in anything in particular. Sometimes just knowing where a lawyer worked helped Jane to understand what the meetings could have been about.

The other name that appeared on the log was a Nancy Grant. Jane found that name just one time in the log and next to her name in the relation to prisoner column it was just labeled 'personal'. Jane again made a note of the name and was glad that the log at least gave them a few new leads to follow-up on. She would have Frost run both Manning and Grant when he came into the station. As much as she poked fun of Korsak about his lack of technological savvy, she wasn't much better at searches than he was. Frost was really the expert when it came to that.

She tried her email one last time hoping to find the photos from Cedar Junction. She now knew she was waiting for a picture of Walter Stills, his lawyer Peter Manning and a mystery woman Nancy Grant. Apparently the third time for Jane was the charm as the desired email was finally in Jane's inbox.

She immediately opened the prison photo of Walter Stills. As soon as the photo opened Jane knew she recognized him. She was looking at their mystery man from the parking garage.

R&I

Maura's morning had been fairly routine. She had gotten up at her normal time for a day she did not have to go into work. She had completed her morning workout routine like she always did. She spent several minutes interacting and feeding Bass. She even had started her coffee before heading upstairs to take a shower. There really wasn't anything about this Saturday morning that appeared to be different from her previous Saturday mornings.

Except she felt like things were different. She had kissed Jane last night. Jane had kissed her last night. Last night had changed everything and she found she couldn't be happier.

They had kissed. Not a small peck on the cheek kind of kiss. No. They had kissed. Admittedly tentative at first but Maura had been just as uncertain as Jane when she leaned in for that first one. But thankfully there was a second kiss. And then a third. If Maura had had her way there would have been a fourth. Probably a fifth.

As she headed back downstairs into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee she couldn't help but think about how it felt to have Jane's lips on her own. To finally experience what she had dreamt about for months. Even with the tentative nature of their first kiss, Maura's dreams had not done the sensation any justice. The real life version of Jane was so much better than the dream one.

A part of her believed they should have talked after it happened instead of just saying good night. But as she thought about it she mostly believed that maybe it had been better that they didn't try to go through any analysis that soon. Maybe it was for the best that they both got to just have their first moments as maybe something more without the immediate pressure to have to define what that something more was supposed to be.

So she was fine that they left things as they did last night. She knew that conversation would happen. Considering what did happen between them last night there was no way to avoid having it at some point. But she wasn't worried about having that conversation. Last night had felt so natural, so right. She was sure that their conversation would be just as natural.

Maura couldn't remember a time when she felt more full of hope. She had been in love with Jane for a long time but had never really let herself believe that there was a chance for that love to be mutual. She had hoped. She had wanted. She just wouldn't let herself believe. Mainly to try to keep herself from being hurt or disappointed.

But when her lips met Jane's that first time she wasn't even sure if she leaned up into Jane or Jane leaned down into her. She really didn't know who initiated it. She thought maybe it was each of them. But what mattered even more to her was that Jane didn't pull away. She didn't stop what happened and in fact she knew for sure it was Jane that stepped into her and deepened that first kiss. She knew simply because she had not been capable of such a thing. She was surprised her legs hadn't given out on her.

Pulling away from Jane and not seeing any panic or uncertainty, that's what truly gave Maura hope. Nothing about Jane's reaction to the kisses they shared led her to believe she hadn't wanted it to happen. As in doubt as she had been about Jane's feelings for her prior to last night, she wasn't doubting that anymore.

Angela had been right along. Jane had wanted more than friendship.

Angela.

Maura looked at the time and realized that she was about to have an unexpected problem. She knew any minute Angela was going to make her way over to the house to get the details about their night. She was actually surprised that Angela wasn't in her kitchen at dawn.

For the first time all morning, Maura started to feel a little anxious. She was really stuck in a difficult position. For months Angela had been Maura's confidant. She had been the only person who knew that she was in love with Jane.

She hadn't meant for Angela to find out. She hadn't meant to tell her. But Angela being Angela happened to be in the right place at the right time to earn that piece of information.

R&I

"_Hey Maura?" Angela called out as she walked through the side door. She had wanted to know if Maura wanted to finish watching the Civil War documentary they had started a few nights ago._

_She made it to the kitchen and hadn't been acknowledged by the ME which surprised her. She knew Maura was home and since it was only 8:00 pm she didn't think Maura would be asleep. _

"_Maura?" she called out again still not sure where the woman was._

_Not getting a response Angela decided she would walk through the lower level to see if she could find her. She wouldn't interrupt Maura if she was upstairs in her room. She headed into the living room and found the ME._

_Maura was asleep on the couch. Angela would, from time to time, find Maura asleep on the couch especially if she had been working extremely long hours. Angela hadn't been aware of a case that was taxing either her or Jane but she just assumed something had worn out Maura._

_Not wanting to wake her, Angela quietly went to the hall closet and removed a blanket. As she started to cover Maura with the blanket she noticed the empty glass of wine on the end table. She didn't think much of it as it wasn't unusual for Maura to have a glass of wine to help wind down from her day._

_She had just finished covering Maura with the blanket when Maura stirred. Angela froze hoping that Maura would simply fall back asleep. She hadn't wanted to be the reason she woke up. _

"_Angela?" Maura asked not yet opening her eyes and her speech was a little slurred._

"_Yes," Angela acknowledged in a soft voice now feeling bad for waking the ME up. "I'm sorry I woke you. You just looked a little cold."_

"_S'alright," Maura slurred again as she tried to sit up._

_Angela couldn't help notice the slurred speech. The first one she thought was just because she wasn't awake but the second time the speech slurred Angela began to wonder. "Are you alright?" she asked just a little concerned._

"_Mmm fine," Maura once again slurred._

_A third time for Angela made her certain Maura was drunk. That surprised Angela. She had known Maura to have an occasional glass of wine but in the years she had known the ME she had never seen her intoxicated._

"_Maura, honey," Angela started, "how much have you had to drink?" She also wanted to know what made Maura drink so much but knew to try to get one question answered at a time._

"_Drink?" Maura repeated but didn't supply an answer. By now she was sitting upright on the couch but she was struggling to stay awake._

_Angela's concern for her grew as Maura never seemed to have issues answering questions before._

"_Yes Maura," Angela tried again. "How much wine have you had tonight?"_

_Instead of answering aloud Maura held up her hand and tried to count off glasses with her fingers. She was muttering something Angela couldn't understand but as she watched the number of fingers increase it was clear that Maura was in fact drunk._

_Maura got to where four fingers were being held up and stopped. Just as Angela was about to take that as Maura's answer to her question she watched Maura move her hand back and forth in front of her as if she was mesmerized by the action._

_Watching this Angela knew she wasn't going to get any answers with Maura in the condition she was. "Come on," Angela said gently as she helped Maura get up from the couch. "Let's get you into bed."_

_Maura seemed to think about what Angela had just said and then nodded. She let Angela help her up off the couch and allowed her to help her up the stairs. Angela put Maura into bed and tucked her in. Before leaving the ME to get some sleep Angela went into the bathroom to get a glass of water and some aspirin to place on Maura's night stand._

_After placing the items down on the nightstand, Angela heard Maura mumble something. She paused to listen and just when she thought Maura had stopped mumbling and fallen asleep she heard her mumble again, "She doesn't love me."_

_Not knowing who Maura was talking about she wondered if Maura had a run in with Hope. That would explain why she might have been so upset she had gotten drunk. Angela didn't know all the details but she knew Maura's interactions with Hope had all been disasters to that point._

"_Shhhh," Angela tried to settle Maura. "Go to sleep. It will be better in the morning." She re-tucked Maura in and straightened up when she heard Maura speak again._

"_No. Jane still won't love me in the morning."_

_Angela froze and stared at the woman on the bed. Had she just said Jane wouldn't love her? She stood waiting to see if Maura would say anything else but nothing more came from the ME. Finally Angela walked out of her bedroom more confused than ever._

_When Maura woke up the next morning she had no idea how she had gotten into bed. She was still dressed in the yoga pants and t-shirt she had put on when she first got home the night before instead of in her pajamas. As she started to get up she quickly stopped as her head was throbbing and the room seemed to sway. _

_Thinking back on the night she quickly ascertained that she had consumed too much wine last night. She looked over to her nightstand to see the time and saw the water and aspirin sitting there. She wasn't sure if it had been Jane or Angela who was responsible for that but she was eternally grateful. She took the aspirin and drank the water and laid back down until the room stopped moving. _

_After a few moments she tried to get up again and found she had better success. She headed into the bathroom to splash some water on her face and then went downstairs. For some reason, she wasn't too surprised to see Angela in her kitchen. When she saw that breakfast was being made she knew it was Angela that had helped her to bed the night before._

"_Good morning," Angela greeted the ME._

"_Good morning," Maura replied. Looking over at Angela she smiled. "Thank you for last night," she said. She didn't remember much of anything but she wanted to acknowledge and thank Angela for getting her to bed._

"_Have a seat," Angela said. "I figured you'd need something in your stomach."_

_Maura sat as directed and watched Angela finish the last of her breakfast. She placed it in front of Maura and looked at her. "Are you alright?" she asked Maura with concern._

"_I will be," answered Maura. And she would be. She hadn't meant to drink that much last night. But she had left Jane's apartment after trying to console her after Casey once again left her in a lurch. Seeing Jane upset over Casey had just really upset her. She shouldn't have let it. She knew Jane didn't feel for her anything more than friendship but it hurt to see the detective upset over someone Maura never believed was good enough for Jane._

_Maura picked at her breakfast and Angela watched in a comfortable silence. After a few minutes Angela broke the silence. "Maura, you should tell her."_

_Maura's head snapped up. "Tell who what?" she asked. The look on Angela's face made Maura fear the answer. What had she said last night?_

"_Jane. If you love her, you should really tell her," Angela answered._

_Maura almost panicked. She almost tried to pretend she didn't know what Angela was talking about. She almost tried to lie. But she didn't. Simply because the look on Angela's face was so open and warm and caring she couldn't lie. She just dropped her head._

"_She doesn't feel the same way about me," Maura answered instead. _

_Angela reached across the table and took Maura's hand in hers. "And here I thought you never guessed."_

R&I

That started the months of back and forth between the two women. Angela insisting that Jane cared for Maura on a level beyond friendship. Maura refusing to let herself really believe Angela could be right. But through it all Angela had been there for her and had been a sounding board for her.

But now things were suddenly different. Now instead of seeing Angela as a confidant she now had to see Angela strictly as Jane's mother. Jane's mother who routinely tried to interfere in Jane's personal affairs. Something Maura was well aware Jane hated and tried to stop at every turn.

So Maura knew she was now in a difficult position. As much as she wanted to share the joy last night had brought her with Angela she knew she couldn't. She could not be the one to tell Angela about what happened. Not without running the risk of upsetting Jane.

Jane was an extremely private person. Last night had just happened and they hadn't even had a chance to talk about what it meant for them and for the future. There was just no way she would be able to tell Angela anything before she and Jane had even had the chance to talk first.

But the woman was most likely counting the seconds before she could come over and get the details about their night out. Their date. Maura was going to have to figure out a way to handle Angela without letting her know absolutely everything that happened last night. For one of the few times in her life, Maura suddenly wished she possessed the ability to lie without breaking out in hives.

As if on cue, the side door opened and Angela entered the main house. "Maura?" she called out.

Maura took a deep breath and attempted to prepare herself for the onslaught of questions she knew were about to head her way.

"Good morning," she called out from the kitchen. She moved to the cupboard to pull out a cup for Angela and poured a cup of coffee knowing Angela would want one.

"So tell me about your night," was Angela's greeting as she entered the kitchen.

Maura had to chuckle that she skipped even saying good morning and got straight to the point. "We both had a wonderful evening," Maura answered her.

"So," Angela said with anticipation, "what did you guys end up doing?"

As Maura had pondered that morning how she was going to try to handle Angela, she decided it was fine to share most of the details with her. She just wasn't going to be able to share everything with her. She'd dance around that subject as best she could but she realized she was most likely going to have to tell Angela that she just couldn't reveal certain answers.

"Believe it or not," Maura started, "we went roller skating." She knew that would be safe to discuss outside their last skate and considering Jane's threats the whole Hokey Pokey bit.

"Oh my," Angela exclaimed. "She took you to Chez Vous didn't she?" While it was a question it really wasn't. As soon as Maura had said roller skating Angela knew exactly where Jane would have taken her.

"Yes," Maura answered, "she did."

"Jane used to end up there practically every weekend when she was younger and I swear she spent at least two summers there. We know the owners," Angela said with a smile.

Maura nodded. "I met Jake," she offered. "Jane actually arranged it with him so that we had the place to ourselves. Which was probably a good thing. I handled the skating part alright but I'm not sure I would have if there had been any other people skating around us."

Angela settled on a mental picture of both Jane and Maura skating. She let her mind wander a bit and could help imagine some intimate moments especially if they had the rink to themselves. She knew it was probably wishful thinking but she just couldn't help it.

"What else happened?" Angela asked hoping to hear something that would let her believe one of them finally came clean about how they felt about each other.

"Well," Maura started hoping she could tell Angela just enough to satisfy her curiosity but avoid the details she knew she just couldn't share. "We got to the rink and Jane had purchased new skates for me."

"Your germ issues?" Angela asked knowing Jane had already gotten Maura her own pair of bowling shoes for a similar reason.

"Yes, and then she went and wore rented skates. I still don't know why it can be ok for her to deal with bacteria strains and not me," the ME pointed out.

"Because she knows you have concerns and she wants to protect you," Angela pointed out. "Remember what I told you yesterday about how Jane shows her feelings through her actions? This is the type of thing I meant."

Maura couldn't help but flash again to Jane putting the skates on her feet. A smile swept across her face she just couldn't stop. She realized Angela noticed the smile and tried to head off questions. "She is very sweet in that respect," she said. "Once we got used to the skates, we skated a little bit, she talked about going to the rink when she was younger and she tried to teach me to skate backwards. I managed a little but the turns are harder than they look."

A little disappointed that there didn't seem to be any 'juicy' details Angela took a sip of her coffee. "Did you do anything else?"

"After we skated we had dinner and then came home," Maura answered still hoping her body wouldn't overly react to a sin of omission in the same manner it would react to an outright lie.

"I half expected to see Jane here this morning," Angela pointed out. Most Saturdays she could find her daughter over here having spent the night after the two had watched movies.

"She had to work today," Maura said. "They still don't have much on their case and I think she went in pretty early."

It was Angela's turn to nod. She knew Jane was unhappy at how her case was progressing and figured she was going to work through the weekend. She was pretty sure she wouldn't see her daughter until Sunday dinner.

"Well," she said clearly disappointed that neither had made any confessions of undying love for the other, "I'm glad you both had a fun night. But I will be honest and admit I was hoping that last night would have turned out to be an actual date between you two."

Maura had to turn away from Angela and pretend to wash out her coffee cup to avoid the eye contact she knew would give her away. She let silence fall between them instead of risking an unintentional admission.

Angela seemed to interpret Maura's actions as a sign that she didn't want to discuss that. She hadn't wanted to upset Maura and she now thought maybe Maura was also upset that the night hadn't turned into a real date. Feeling guilty for possibly upsetting Maura, Angela quickly changed topics and asked how Constance was doing.

Much to Maura's relief, Angela stayed for another cup of coffee and the conversation stayed focused on Constance and how her new exhibit was doing in London.

R&I

_Would you like to come over for dinner tonight? -M_

_I would love to…I should be free by 7. -J_

_7 it is. Just let me know if something keeps you. -M_

_I won't let anything keep me. -J_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Jane worked her way through the rest of the CSRU reports from Allyson's Nissan. She found both good and bad news. The bad news was that there were no usable prints in or around the car that weren't Allyson's. The techs had found prints on the driver side rear passenger door but they were too smudged to be used for identification purposes.

The good news was that they found several strands of hair from the backseat. That piece of evidence also came with a little bit of bad news. The hair they found did not contain a root bulb that they could use to get a DNA sample to run through CODIS. But the hairs they found would be extremely useful during comparison tests much like the knife and rope evidence they collected.

The evidence in the case so far frustrate Jane. It wasn't that they didn't have 'anything' it was more like everything they had would only be useful after a suspect had been identified, caught and available for sample collections and comparisons. They were slowly building a workable case against someone but they still didn't have definitive proof on who that someone was.

The match of the photo from the parking garage with the photo of Walter Stills from Cedar Junction was a step in the right direction. But they were still chasing a ghost. Stills didn't exist in any records system or database so the true identity of the man was not yet known.

Jane was studying the two photos when both Korsak and Frost entered the bullpen. She smiled to greet her two partners in crime mainly because they came bearing gifts. Korsak carried in coffee and Frost had what Jane instinctively knew would be doughnuts. Stereotype or not, Jane was never one to turn down either.

"My heroes," she greeted her partners.

"We knew you would beat us in this morning," Frost replied. "So we figured you'd be ready for something."

"How'd it go last night?" Korsak asked. Both he and Frost knew Jane was doing something with Maura last night but she hadn't told either of them what it was.

"It went good," Jane answered honestly. "Maura had a really good time." She had told the guys she was worried about Maura being upset especially after the last bad blind date she had been on that they rescued her from so she had wanted to see her have a fun night out.

"What did you two do?" Frost asked.

"I introduced Maura to the joys of roller skating," Jane replied not holding back her smile.

"Chez Vous?" Korsak asked. He knew all the neighborhoods well and figured that's where Jane probably went as a kid.

"The one and only," Jane replied. "It was really a fun time. Thanks for covering for me last night"

Both Korsak and Frost snickered a bit at the image of Maura roller skating but both also knew trying something like that would have been enjoyed by the ME.

"Anytime," Frost answered.

"Any luck with the rest of the files from Cedar Junction?" Korsak asked once they all were settled and it was time to get working.

"Actually," Jane said, "I did find several things." That got both their attention. Jane pulled up the photo of Stills from her email from Cedar Junction and turned her monitor for the guys to see. "Recognize someone?"

They both answered immediately. "That's our garage man."

"Yep," Jane answered. "So our prime suspect is in fact Walter Stills. Although we can't figure out who he really is yet it's nice to know we aren't looking for two mystery men."

"I've tried everything I can think of," Frost said. "But I can't find anything. Nothing in the databases. Nothing in social media. I'm coming up empty."

"Well I've got two more people for you to try to find," Jane said. She pulled up the photos for Peter Manning and Nancy Grant.

"Who are these two?" Korsak asked.

"Peter Manning is listed in the visitor logs as being legal counsel for Pelton," Jane answered. "We need to know what firm he works for and if he specializes in any area of law. Manning seems to visit Pelton about every six months."

Frost nodded. He knew they were trying to see what type of business Manning could have with Pelton as they were all sure he wouldn't disclose his relationship freely.

"So who's she?" Korsak asked.

"The visitor log says her name is Nancy Grant," Jane replied. "The name only appears once in the 18 months the prison gave us and the only note in the log listed 'personal' as the nature of her visit."

Frost looked at the logs and went to sit at his desk. He powered on his computer knowing that he would be the one who ran the queries on Manning and Grant. Some of what he needed to run would take some time so he wanted to get things going.

"Two new names could give us new lead possibilities," Korsak pointed out. He felt as if they were finally starting to move forward in the case.

"That's what I'm hoping for," admitted Jane. "Now, potentially an interesting thing about Grant's visit to Pelton," Jane said looking over to Korsak, "was that it occurred the day before Stills' last visit to Pelton."

"Interesting," Korsak replied. "Maybe this Nancy Grant is the reason Stills stopped visiting Pelton." He was guessing but at this stage in the investigation that's what they did until they could understand things better.

"Perhaps," Jane said. It was plausible at least. Something made Stills cut off all ties to Pelton. "I found something else too," Jane said as she pulled up the excerpt from the letter Pelton wrote to Stills for both Frost and Korsak to read.

"Remember Walter, the eyes are more than the window to the soul. They are its gatekeeper. Possess the eyes and you possess the soul," Frost read aloud. "What the hell does that mean?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Jane had to admit. "But this is the only thing I read in the files the prison flagged as suspicious that we can say fits our murder. Given this reference, I would say that this is our first direct link between Stills and Pelton. Allyson's eyes were cut out," she pointed out. "I don't know how you could possess them more than that."

As Jane was talking she felt her phone buzz an incoming text message. Having finished her sentence to the guys she pulled her phone off her hip and read the message.

_Would you like to come over for dinner tonight? -M_

Jane read the text and smiled. She didn't have to think twice about her answer so she typed her reply.

Turning her attention back to Korsak she was about to start again when her phone buzzed Maura's reply.

_7 it is. Just let me know if something keeps you. -M_

After last night, armies couldn't keep her from seeing Maura. She replied back quickly and again turned her attention back to Korsak. If he noticed her smile or quick texting he didn't mention it.

Seeing that Jane appeared to be done texting whom he assumed was Maura based on the smile that drifted across Jane's face, Korsak spoke. "So we have two visitors of Pelton we can chase down and now one piece of circumstantial evidence that would suggest Pelton could be linked to our murder." Both Frost and Jane nodded at Korsak's assessment. "Anything from the Nissan?" He knew the reports had just recently been sent.

"Nothing for prints except Allyson's. Smudges on the doors but unusable for AFIS," Jane said. "But several hair samples were found in the backseat. Not enough for DNA but they will help with comparisons if we make an arrest."

"Damn," Korsak uttered, "I wish we had prints."

Jane nodded and turned to Frost, "Did you ever get the rest of the garage footage? I'd like to see when that Malibu was parked in that garage and by whom."

"They should have the rest of the footage for me today," Frost said. "I'm going over there in a couple of hours. They were also going to pull the receipts from Sunday night to see how Stills paid to get the Malibu out of the garage. That will have the time and date stamp on when the car entered the garage in the first place and maybe we will get lucky and he paid with a credit card." He would love to have something more he could chase electronically on Stills.

Hearing that sparked a thought for Jane. "Speaking of credit cards," she said. "I think we need to pull all the receipts from the restaurant Valerie and Allyson ate at on Sunday night."

Both Frost and Korsak looked at her curious as this was a new suggestion. "What are you thinking?" Vince asked.

"Remember when we were talking in the garage about back tracing Allyson to the restaurant?" she asked. Both men nodded. "Well I had that thought before we found the video footage of Stills in her car when it pulled into the parking garage. When we saw the footage I didn't really think about that more. But he got into her car at some point Sunday night. What if he got into her car when it was parked at the restaurant?"

"You think Stills was at the restaurant when Allyson was there?" Frost asked.

"I don't think we can rule it out at this point," she said. "Maybe he saw her at the restaurant, or followed her there, and approached her in the parking lot. If he was there, maybe there's a chance he ate there too."

"It's worth a shot," Frost stated. The restaurant had already offered to be whatever help they may need when they made initial inquiries about Allyson's time at the dinner with her mother. "I'll see if they can pull the receipts from Sunday." Maybe if Stills did eat there he paid with the same method of payment he used to get the Malibu out of the parking garage.

Frost went about contacting the restaurant and Jane turned her attention to Korsak. "Now," she said, "what the hell happened with Jennings?"

R&I

Korsak knew Jane wasn't going to be pleased about Jennings postponing his consultation until Monday. He wasn't happy about it either. "He called about 10 minutes after you left for lunch yesterday," he said.

"What was his excuse?" she asked. She really did want the consult with him but they didn't have time to be dealing with him stringing them along. The clock was still ticking on the current case and if their killer was going to continue to follow Pelton's original murder pattern there may be another potential victim in six days.

"He didn't really offer me a good one," Korsak admitted. "Said he was detained and wouldn't be able to make it in until Monday morning. He said he would definitely be here by 9 am."

Jane thought for a minute. "Do you believe him?" she asked. There was a chance that he just wasn't up to coming into the station. As far as she knew this would be the first time he had come back to the station since he was forced out. She also wasn't sure if he wanted to interact with her again. The night he had attacked her was not the last time she had seen him. They had one more interaction almost a year after that night and while he never laid a finger on her, the exchange was not a pleasant one.

"I'm just not sure," Korsak admitted. "I thought for sure he would be here yesterday so I don't know. I guess we wait and see what Monday brings."

Jane just nodded. She didn't like the delay in getting potentially important information. "Unfortunately, we don't really have much choice do we?" she sighed in frustration. Jennings was the primary on the Pelton case and probably the best person to have answers or insight they couldn't read for themselves. Will Jackson would have been a good second option but he had passed away several years ago. That left Jennings. And that meant they would just have to wait until Monday to find out if he would be of any help to their investigation.

R&I

"I'm going to head over to the parking garage to get the rest of the video they put together and the payment receipts," Frost announced about an hour later.

Jane looked up from her desk, "I'll go with you," she said. She needed a break from staring at her laptop for a little while. She turned to Korsak, "Do you want us to bring you something back?" She knew she and Frost would also be stopping somewhere for lunch.

"Yeah," he answered, "just something from wherever you both end up," he said. "Thanks."

Jane nodded, "We'll be back." She grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair and she headed to the elevators with Frost beside her.

"I had another thought," Jane said as they were driving to the parking garage.

"What?" Frost asked.

"The Malibu was parked on that level Sunday night," she said.

"Yeah," Frost said. It had already been in its spot when the video footage they first had requested had started. Part of what he had requested was film of the Malibu entering the garage to see if Stills had been the driver at that time. "We are on our way to pick up the video of it arriving."

"Yeah, I get that but what I was thinking is that there may be a second car involved here," she said.

"Huh?" Frost uttered not following her. He thought the second car was the Malibu.

"Stills," she said, "or someone else drove that Malibu to the parking garage so it was waiting for Stills when he arrived with Allyson in her Nissan." She looked at Frost to see if he was following her thought process.

"I follow that part," he said still not sure where Jane was going with this.

"After he left the Malibu, whenever that turns out to be, how did he leave?"

Frost finally figured out what Jane was talking about. Stills did need a way to get away from the parking garage after leaving the Malibu parked on the fifth floor. "I get it," he said. "There could have been someone picking him up from the parking garage."

"That or he used public transportation," Jane said. It was just an idea but as Jane had tried to walk through everything Stills had to do when he parked that Malibu in the garage she kept getting hung up on how he was able to leave from the garage when the vehicle he drove had stayed behind. He had to have had someone pick him up or use public transportation.

"We'll know soon enough," Frost said as they pulled into the parking garage.

They parked the car and headed down to the office. Once again, Frost knocked on the office door and once again the two received the same greeting.

"You pay at the exit or at one of the pay stations by the elevators," came the voice. Apparently lots of people struggled to understand how parking garages worked.

"Boston PD," Frost announced.

They heard a rustling inside the office and the door opened. It was once again the same woman that had helped them two days ago. She smiled at them both, "Back again?" she asked but this time moved aside letting both detectives into the office. She turned to Frost. "We have that extra footage for you and also we found the parking ticket for that Malibu." She handed Frost both a file and what appeared to be another flash drive.

Frost opened the folder and looked at the papers inside before handing it to Jane for her to review. Jane looked and saw that it contained an original parking ticket as well as an original payment receipt. Stills had used a credit card to pay the parking fee. Jane knew Frost would run the credit card number when he returned to the station.

She looked at the parking ticket and tried to decipher the time and date stamps. If she was looking at the ticket correctly it looked like the Malibu had entered the parking garage on Saturday, the day before Allyson was abducted and killed.

"Is there any way we can see the footage from when this car entered your garage now?" she asked. She knew Frost had the copies on the flash drive but since they were now looking to see if there was a second car involved she didn't want to risk getting all the way back to the station and realizing that they might need more footage.

"Sure," the woman replied. "May I see that?" she asked wanting the parking ticket from the folder. Jane handed her back the folder and as the woman read the ticket information she sat down in front of the computer that ran their cameras.

She pulled up the search function on her system and entered in the date and time that was stamped on the parking ticket. Within a few seconds an image came across the screen and they were all looking at the Chevy Malibu with the stolen license plates. They let the footage play as both Jane and Frost watched wanting to see if the driver was Walter Stills.

"Your best face shot for the driver will be this one," the woman said as she cued up a different angle. Sure enough, the driver of the Malibu as it entered the parking garage on that Saturday night was Walter Stills. Jane and Frost both exchanged a look which they both knew was relief. They hadn't really wanted to add another unknown player to the mix.

"Can you follow this car?" Jane asked wanting to see what Stills did after he parked the car on the fifth level.

"Sure," the woman answered. "We burned all of this for you," she said indicating to the flash drive.

"We know," Frost answered. "And we appreciate it. But we are also wanting to see how this driver left the garage after he parked this car and we would hate to get all the way back to the station just to have to call and ask again for more footage."

The woman nodded as if she understood what they wanted to know. She cued up that footage on the fifth level and the two detectives watched as Stills pulled the car into the place they had seen it occupy on Sunday night. After the car gets parked Stills appears to just sit in the car. The woman fast forwards the footage and it takes several minutes before there is any movement in the car. Thirty minutes had elapsed according to the time stamp. Finally Stills exits the car. The woman slows down the video playback and they all watch as a car comes to a stop next to Stills. He then gets into that car and it drives away.

Without having to be asked, the woman cues up exit cameras for the car that Stills is now a passenger. The car appears to stop at the pay station but they aren't there too long and it pulls away. "That car wasn't in the garage long enough to have to make a payment," she explained.

"Can we get plates and a picture of that driver?" Frost asked.

The woman cued up an exit camera that captured the license plate of what appeared to be a Toyota Camry.

"Frost," Jane said.

"I've got it Jane," he said as he had already pulled out his iPad and was entering in the license plate information. Both detectives just hoped that these plates wouldn't come back stolen as well.

As Frost was running the plates, the woman was searching for a face shot of the driver of the Camry. She found the best one she could and pulled it up on the screen for the two detectives. Jane recognized the driver.

Frost looked at Jane, "That's Nancy Grant."

The woman had no idea who Nancy Grant was but from the looks on the faces of the two detectives she decided that this was information that might be very helpful to them. She reached over and took the flash drive she had given to Frost back from him and proceeded to add the new footage of the Camry that they had found to the footage already on the drive.

"Jane," he said as they were waiting for the last of the video files to be burned. "The plates come back to a 2010 Toyota Camry," he said with a smile. That was better than their last attempt at running plates.

"Registration?" she asked.

"Grant," he answered with a smile.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

After leaving the parking garage, Jane and Frost headed over to the restaurant where Allyson had dinner on Sunday night. Frost had called ahead and requested the receipts from Sunday night as well as a list of employees who were working that night. The restaurant had said they would compile everything he needed and he could stop by to pick up the information.

They didn't think a worker at the restaurant was involved but Jane wondered if maybe someone would recognize the photos of either Stills or Grant. As many times as Jane played out the last part of the night for Allyson in her head, she still couldn't shake the feeling that Stills was either at the restaurant or in the parking lot. Her mind just continued to point at the restaurant as the site where Stills entered Allyson's car.

They showed both photos to the available staff members at the restaurant with no luck although most working had not been working on Sunday. The manager of the restaurant had put together all of the requested information for the two detectives. Jane and Frost then stopped for a quick bite to eat and also to pick up lunch for Korsak.

They were looking to get back to the station to see what information Frost's queries had uncovered about Nancy Grant. She seemed to be the first real lead the team had discovered. They didn't have any credit card information for her as she hadn't needed to pay any fee for being in the garage Saturday night to pick up Stills but they at least had license plates that didn't come up to a stolen vehicle.

"The registration information for the Camry matched the address information the DMV has for Grant," Frost said as they drove back to the station. He was reviewing some of the search results on his iPad.

"At least we have a DMV and registration hit this time," Jane said. That was more than they had on the actual identity of Walter Stills.

"So," Frost said, "she knows Stills. She's paid a visit to Pelton. I wonder what her involvement is with all of this."

Jane half shrugged. "We are certainly going to find out," she said.

The day was turning out to be better than she had expected. While the CSRU didn't find any identification evidence in Allyson's Nissan there was at least some evidence that would useful in comparisons. They had received photos of two visitors for Pelton outside of Stills. A lawyer named Peter Manning and Nancy Grant. Both of whom they had at least been able to find in the system which was more than they could do with Stills.

Jane had found a letter written by Pelton to Stills referencing the possession of eyes. She couldn't say that she completely understood what Pelton meant by what he wrote. All of the letter excerpts were taken out of context. But she wasn't going to dismiss the fact that Pelton's comments to Stills discussed possessing eyes and Allyson's eyes had been cut out.

But perhaps their biggest break to that point was when additional video footage from the parking garage. Not only did they have footage of Stills dropping off the Malibu used in transporting Allyson potentially to her death Saturday night, they had also found footage of Stills being picked up from the garage Saturday night in a car registered to and driven by Nancy Grant.

While Jane still didn't have enough pieces of the puzzle to put it all together, they were slowly starting to unearth more and more. She knew it was only a matter of time until she found the last few missing pieces that would let them see the picture and understand the crime.

R&I

They got back to the station and filled in Korsak on what they had discovered at the parking garage. Korsak wanted to watch the footage so Frost took him to the BRIC to review what they had. As he watched the footage of the Camry exiting the garage and the close up on Grant's face there was no denying that Nancy Grant was the driver of the car that Saturday night. After viewing the footage the three made their way back to the bullpen.

"We got back the information on Manning," Frost said as he settled down into his chair. He set aside records he received from the restaurant and turned his attention to his computer monitor. He hit a few keystrokes on his computer and looked through the results. "Says that Manning is a lawyer at Winslow, Lyne and Abbott."

Neither Jane nor Korsak recognized the firm. "Specialty?" Jane asked.

"Estates and trusts," Frost answered.

Jane raised an eyebrow. "That's not what I expected," she said. She had expected to hear criminal law or appellate work not estates. "Does it say if anyone on staff handles criminal cases?"

Frost read through the information and performed another search. He read through the bios of the partners in the firm and even looked at their website. "No reference to criminal law at all," he said. "It looks like everyone in the firm just handles estates and trusts."

"Interesting," said Jane. She turned to Korsak. "If Manning had been a criminal lawyer I would have worried that Allyson's murder might be a ploy to help Pelton with an appeal or a request for a new trial." One of the reasons Jane had hesitated in even making their inquiry into Pelton official was the concern that Pelton was behind Allyson's murder in an attempt to try to get out of jail. However, if the only lawyer who was visiting Pelton wasn't a criminal lawyer, or more importantly an appellate lawyer, Jane knew it was less likely any involvement by Pelton was for the purposes of getting out of prison.

Korsak nodded. He, too, assumed that a regular visit from a lawyer had more to do with his incarceration that with any trust or estate. Potentially taking away that concern about the Pelton involvement would allow the detectives to stay focused on Stills and what he stood to gain or achieve with Allyson's murder. If Stills was in fact her killer. At that point the evidence they had against Stills pointed to Allyson's abduction and not specifically her murder.

"It does make you wonder," he said. "Pelton's been in prison for nine years and he isn't eligible for parole. What would he need an estate lawyer for?"

"I can try to run Pelton and see if I can find anything on his financials," Frost offered. They had tried to run friends and family for Pelton with little success. "Both his parents are deceased so maybe the estate Manning is supervising is that of his parents."

They were without a motive to this point. While knowing or understanding the motive behind a murder was not always necessary, it did make trying to piece the puzzle together easier. If they could understand why their suspect killed Allyson it might help them understand why Allyson was the chosen victim. That could then lead back to their killer.

Having an estate lawyer enter the picture was interesting to Jane. In her years as a homicide detective she had found that money, more often than not, played a factor in the motive for murder. Getting money or keeping money almost always played some factor in her investigations. Perhaps Stills' connection to Pelton had something to do with money or Pelton's estate.

"Let's do this," Korsak offered. "Why don't Jane and I head out to Grant's residence and you," he said to Frost, "can continue to run searches. We still need to trace that credit card Stills used at the parking garage on Sunday night. We also need to go through the receipts from the restaurant to see if anything can be linked to Stills or Grant."

"I can start that inquiry on Pelton's financials," Frost also offered. "Since we can't actually identify Stills there's nothing for me to check with him but I will also run a financial on Grant."

"It's Saturday and there's no way an estate lawyer is working on a Saturday," Jane pointed out. "We will have to do the follow-up with Manning on Monday." She stood up and grabbed her jacket. "Let's go," she said to Korsak. "Frost, keep us posted." Korsak joined Jane as they headed to the elevators.

Frost nodded as he was typing away at his computer. "Will do."

R&I

Jane and Vince drove out to Nancy Grant's address. As they pulled out of the station Jane looked over at Vince. "Should we…" she started.

"Call for backup?" Korsak finished her thought. He looked back at her and nodded. "I was actually thinking the same thing."

Jane had never had any issues going to homes to do notifications or for follow-up on leads. But when she was heading to a potential suspect's home, as in the case with Grant, she was a little more cautious. Grant was a suspect. She had visited Pelton in prison. She had picked up Stills the night before Stills took Allyson. Grant's involvement with this case was a complete unknown. And Jane didn't like unknowns.

Besides Grant herself there was Stills to consider. They didn't have any idea where Stills lived or where he was currently. Given that Grant had picked him up in that garage there was a decent potential that Stills could be found at Grants residence. There were enough unknowns that both detectives knew having backup ready was the smart play.

Jane grabbed her cellphone called into central dispatch. She requested two units to assist them giving instructions for the officers to wait until they were on site for further instruction. Dispatch confirmed that they would send out two units to meet up with them at Grant's location.

Their timing was perfect. Korsak pulled up and had parked just as the first of the two units rounded the corner. The second unit wasn't too far behind. Jane and Vince got out the car and headed over to talk to the four patrol officers that responded. Jane gave the officers a quick briefing and showed them both pictures of Stills and Grant. One unit went to secure the back of the house while the other unit stayed behind Jane and Korsak as they approached the front door.

Jane and Vince walked up towards the front porch. Once they were on the porch their approach to the door was deliberate and cautious. Neither had removed their weapons as they didn't have a warrant and weren't planning on a forced entry. But that didn't mean they weren't careful.

Both had been cops long enough to know the hazards of approaching the front door of a suspect's home. Both knew enough not to stand directly in front of the door or within direct view of the windows. At some point in each of their careers they had been shot at through a front door or window simply because they knocked.

So both detectives stayed angled a bit avoiding the windows and the door head on. Once ready, Jane reached out and knocked on the door. Then they both did the best they could to listen. Again, that was pure instinct. The noises heard from inside a location could tell them a lot more than if someone was home.

They could sometimes hear if there was more than one person inside the location. They could hear of the occupants of the location scrambled or hurried in their movements. Sometimes they got lucky and heard voices which would help identify who might be inside. Knocking would almost always arouse any pets inside the home so they listened for barking or growling. They even listened for whether persons inside were moving towards the front of the house or the back.

After Jane knocked, however, they heard nothing. She gave it a minute and knocked again. But again her knock was met with silence. No sounds of pets. No sounds of broken conversation. No sounds of movement at all. The house appeared to be unoccupied.

Jane turned and looked up and down the street. She did not see the Toyota Camry that was registered to Grant which she had been driving on Saturday. Nor did she see any signs of the Chevy Malibu Stills drove from the parking garage on Sunday which they had yet to recover.

Korsak borrowed the radio of one of the patrol officers and asked the second unit that had moved towards the back of the home to see if they could spot either the Camry or the Malibu out back. After a few moments the second unit radioed back that there were no vehicles at the back of the property.

Jane took the time to try to look into one of the front windows. She couldn't see much but the television was turned off and it didn't appear as if any lights were on in the front half of the home. She didn't see any movement inside the house.

"Anything?" Korsak asked.

"Nothing," Jane said. They had struck out. No one appeared to be home.

Korsak released the two patrol units as Jane and Vince headed back to their car. "Around the block?" he asked Jane.

She smiled and nodded. "It wouldn't hurt," she answered. They both got in and Vince pulled away. They didn't go too far though. Instead, Vince drove around the block and pulled over just at the beginning of the block Grant lived on. Again, they both had learned early on in their careers that sometimes an 'empty' home wasn't so empty. Sometimes the occupants saw the police coming and managed to hide.

So appearing to drive off after not getting an answer could be an effective ruse by the police. Circling the block and parking out of sight from the home was sometimes rewarded with finding the person they were looking for trying to make a run for it believing it was safe to leave.

Korsak and Jane watched the house for about fifteen minutes before giving up hope that Grant was home. Jane picked up her phone and called Frost putting him on speaker.

"Anything?" he answered as his greeting.

"Nothing," Jane said. "Doesn't appear as if she is home." She didn't try to hide her disappointment.

"Sorry," Frost said. He had wanted to find Grant as well. They needed someone they could speak to and ask questions of and everyone thought Grant was there best chance. "I have something," he said. "Although it's not all good news."

"What do you have?" Korsak asked as he started to drive back to the station.

"Jane, you were right," he said. "The credit card Stills used at the parking garage was also used for a meal at the restaurant Sunday night. From what I can tell, Stills settled his tab about twenty minutes before Valerie Montgomery paid for their dinner. He was there Jane."

"So what am I not going to like about that discovery?" Jane asked having a bad feeling she was about to be told that the credit card was a dead end.

"The card is a pre-paid Visa," Frost said.

"Damn it," Jane couldn't help but utter. Their prime suspect was a ghost. Their next best option wasn't home. Jane was sick of getting half clues and incomplete information.

"Anything on activation?" Korsak asked.

"Nothing yet," he answered. I put in a request but that will take some time. I doubt I will get that until at least Monday."

"I'm sure he paid cash to activate it," Jane said. Outside of the surveillance footage from the parking garage Stills had done an excellent job of staying off the grid.

"We're heading back," Jane said. They were stuck and Jane hated being stuck in an investigation.

R&I

"Anything else come back?" Jane asked as she and Korsak returned to the bullpen.

"Financials for both Pelton and Grant will be ready by Monday," Frost said. "A preliminary scan showed nothing out of the ordinary for Grant. Pelton, however, has money. I won't know the full values until Monday but his inheritance from his parents was sizable."

"Manning must be managing it in a trust," Korsak said.

"Quite possible," Jane replied. "We can try to see him Monday and see if there is anything he will tell us."

"What do you want to do about Grant?" Korsak asked Jane.

"With the surveillance footage from the parking garage, we have enough to bring her in," Jane said. "Let's get a want out for her as a person of interest. I doubt at this point Cavanaugh will sign off on a unit to watch her house but we can get the BOLO out on the Camry and maybe we will get lucky."

Both the guys agreed.

"Employment for Grant?" Korsak asked Frost if he had found anything.

"She works as a receptionist at a dentist's office," Frost replied. "I tried the office but they don't keep weekend hours."

"Ugh," Jane sighed. They had once again hit a stand still. They were either waiting for reports to come back, waiting to be able to talk to someone because it was the weekend or the simply couldn't find who they were looking for.

"I'll get a judge to sign off on the want for Grant," Korsak volunteered and went to make the call.

After that, Jane knew there wasn't anything else that could be done for the day. Jennings was supposed to come in on Monday. They could follow-up with Manning on Monday. They could try to find Grant at her job on Monday. Details on Pelton's financials would be available on Monday.

"The want is issued," Korsak as he rejoined the others.

"Vince," Jane started, "time is going to start becoming an issue." She knew that if Stills kept to Pelton's kill cycle they had six more days before there would be another victim.

"I know," Korsak admitted.

"If we don't get anything from Jennings, assuming he even bothers to come in on Monday, and we can't locate Grant," Jane said looking at Korsak, "we may have no choice."

Korsak nodded. "I thought about that," he admitted.

Frost again watched the exchange between the two and marveled at their ability to understand the unspoken thoughts in almost any given situation. This time, however, he knew what Jane was talking about.

"How quickly will they accommodate a visit?" she asked.

"They will only need a few hours notice," he answered.

"Good," Jane said. "If we strike out Monday come Tuesday we are going up to Cedar Junction."

Again, the guys both nodded in agreement.

"We've done what we can today," Korsak said. "Let's get out of here."

"Jane, do you want to grab a drink?" Frost asked as he gathered his things.

As much as she loved spending time with the guys at the Robber, she had plans. She was having dinner with Maura. The woman she had kissed and who kissed her back. Just thinking about the kisses they shared sent shivers all through her and a smile broke out across her face.

"Can't," Jane offered with no other explanation to either partner. She had a date.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

After Angela left, Maura spent the better part of her morning thinking about the night before. An outside observer would have found the ME sitting her in kitchen, eyes slightly unfocused and deep in thought. She let the night replay over and over again each time finding something different to fixate on in her attempt to commit to memory each and every detail of what she would go to her grave claiming was their first 'official' date. She didn't care if neither of them had called it that. That was exactly what it was.

The time she lost daydreaming about the previous night was lost on her in terms of hours and minutes. She didn't care. She had visions of an almost perfect embrace of Jane while roller skating to occupy her thoughts. The closeness they shared. The contentment she found in Jane's eyes as they skated.

She also had their kiss. Or kisses when she would correct herself that it wasn't one lone action but a series of blissful moments that had brought the detective in as close as she had ever been. Each kiss just slightly different from the others. Each kiss still perfect in its own right. Several times throughout the morning the ME found her fingertips lightly grazing her lips as she swore she could still feel the tingly sensation Jane's lips had given hers.

They had kissed.

No matter what, no matter what was to come of them and the future. They had shared a kiss and no one could ever take that from Maura. That thought alone made the ME smile.

As she sat in introspective glory that Saturday morning, a part of Maura realized it was a good thing that she did not have any plans for that day. Given her frame of mind, she was fully aware that little if nothing was going to get accomplished by her. She seemed perfectly content to enjoy a lazy Saturday morning letting her thoughts occupy her morning.

The side effect for the almost obsessive preoccupation with Jane and their night together was Maura found she missed the detective. Her memories and sensory recall were alright but she missed the presence of the actual woman herself. She knew she would see Jane for sure tomorrow for the now traditional Sunday dinner but suddenly Sunday night felt too long to have to wait to see the one who completely owned her heart. She wanted, and perhaps needed, to see Jane sooner.

She grabbed her phone and sent a text message to the woman who had occupied her thoughts.

_Would you like to come over for dinner tonight? –M_

A simple question that Maura knew seeing a 'no' or 'I can't' would devastate her. She shouldn't feel that way. Jane was allowed to spend her time as she pleased and she was fully aware that she was in the midst of a case which wasn't progressing as smoothly as Jane normally liked to see. But she still wanted to see the detective.

_I would love to…..I should be free by 7. –J_

Maura wasn't sure if it was just the overall 'yes' that Jane replied, the quickness to which she replied or the fact that she had typed that she would 'love to' that put the smile on her face as she read Jane's response. In truth, it didn't matter which part caused it. Jane had said yes to dinner and that was all her cared about.

_7 it is. Just let me know if something keeps you. –M_

She didn't want something to interrupt what now was turning into a night she could spend with Jane but again, she was fully aware that Jane had an active investigation to attend to. If she had any lead that she would have to follow through on Maura was aware that dinner may need to be postponed.

_I won't let anything keep me. –J_

The smile that was already on Maura's face just seemed to get bigger. Jane was a woman of her word and as Maura read Jane's text she knew Jane would do whatever she needed to do to make dinner. She was going to get to see Jane tonight. As she let that thought settle she quickly realized that she needed to make dinner plans. Suddenly, her lazy Saturday changed to one with a purpose. She had a date to plan.

While it shouldn't have been possible, the smile on Maura's face grow once again as she realized that for the first time ever she didn't have to correct herself when she called tonight a date.

R&I

Jane had been able to leave the station with plenty of time to go home and get cleaned up. It had been a long, frustrating day for the detective and she wanted a shower and a chance to shake off the day before heading over to Maura's. As she drove home a part of her felt bad that she turned down drinks with the guys at the Robber. Days like today were usually made for blowing off steam at their favorite bar. However, there was just no competition between deciding to spend time with the guys and spending time with Maura. The guys would lose each and every time.

Jane got home and was greeted by Jo. She let the dog have a few minutes of welcome home affection and then took her out for a quick walk. Once she finished that, she headed to take a shower. It was while she was in the shower that she let herself really enjoy the fact that she was considering her dinner with Maura a 'date'.

She had dinner with Maura all the time. But she knew tonight was different. This was not a dinner between friends. A sharing of a meal for the sake of convenience and at times routine. This was a date. A deliberate encounter with a person for which she cared deeply. Jane marveled at how much and how quickly things could shift.

She always enjoyed Maura's company. Any time she had been able to spend with the ME she had considered herself lucky and fortunate. But in less than 24 hours they had gone from a comfortable best friend relationship to a place where she was now considering dinner to be a date.

As she let herself really think about this, what surprised her the most was how at ease she felt. There was no panic. No anxiety. No uncertainty or fear. Just excitement. Anticipation. And the desire to see where all of this was heading.

She wasn't completely sure what but she knew that meant something. To not have any lingering doubts. To not be overanalyzing what was to come. To not have any trepidation for the coming night signaled to Jane that she was at ease with what changes were in her future with Maura. And that felt good.

She finished getting cleaned up and looked at the time. She was right on schedule. She grabbed Jo's leash and called out for the dog. "Jo," she hollered. "Come on, we are going to Maura's." Jo appeared almost instantaneously at Jane's feet looking excited to be included in the night out.

Jane put on the leash and started to head out. "You can play with Bass tonight," she said looking down at the now excited dog. "But you need to promise to be on your best behavior." Jo barked once as if signally her promise to behave tonight over at what she considered to be her second home.

With that, Jane headed out towards the Beacon Hill home.

R&I

Maura looked at the time and was not sure how it had become 6:45 pm already. There were times throughout the day she felt as if time had virtually stopped as the anticipation for the night drug on. But as she was trying to attend to the last few details for the dinner it seemed to feel as if time was suddenly and quite unnecessarily accelerating. She knew this wasn't the case. She knew time ticked by at the same exact and measured pace it always did but she still found her perception of time that day had been ever changing.

She hurried around the kitchen trying to make sure everything was just as it should be when she heard Jane's car pull into the drive. Just hearing the car pull in made her heart race a little. She couldn't help but chuckle at herself for her reaction. If she was going to have that kind of reaction to Jane before she even saw her the night may prove to be very interesting. She took a deep breath to settle her racing heart and waited for Jane to enter the house.

And waited.

For some reason Jane hadn't managed to enter the house yet. She knew how Jane was and knew how long it would take Jane to get from her car to the side door. Even if she had items she was bringing in with her she should have been walking through the door by now. The delay piqued Maura's curiosity.

She made her way to the dining room window to peer outside. She was hoping to get a sense of what was holding Jane up. What she saw when she looked outside only served to confuse her further. Jane was out of her car and was standing at Maura's side door. She had Jo's leash in one hand. Maura had expected that. She had actually hoped for that as she hadn't wanted Jane to have to rush the end of their night to head to her apartment to care for Jo's needs.

But as Maura looked out the window, she watched the detective and a dog she had come to see as part hers just standing outside. Jo wasn't moving but more importantly neither was Jane. The look Jane had on her face was one Maura could not interpret but she seemed as if she was trying to figure something out.

Not wanting to grow overly concerned or give herself a chance to worry that Jane was having second thoughts, Maura decided to take the direct approach as she walked to the side door to open it for Jane.

"Jane?" Maura asked still completely unsure why Jane had just been standing there.

"Maura," Jane said sheepishly and appeared to almost blush. If Maura didn't know any better Jane seemed to react as if she had just been caught in the middle of something.

Neither woman moved or said anything for a few moments. This only served to confuse Maura even more. "Jane," she tried again, "why are you just standing out here?" She wanted to hear anything that didn't sound like Jane was too nervous or scared to go through with the dinner.

"I….uhhh…" Jane started but almost didn't seem to know how to respond.

"You what?" Maura tried to coax out of the detective.

"I was about to just walk in like I always do but then I thought maybe I shouldn't just walk in like I always do," Jane quietly admitted. She had been standing outside debating with herself over whether she should walk right in or knock.

The look on Jane's face was priceless. Adorable and priceless. Maura couldn't help but laugh. Partly from the humor and partly from the relief. "Jane," she said and stepped aside, "you never have to knock. No matter what, that is something that won't ever change."

Jane immediately seemed to be relaxed and she finally moved to enter Maura's house with Jo in tow. All three made their way into the kitchen. Jo was tugging slightly on her leash. She had usually been released by this part of the house so she could say a proper hello to Maura and then run off to find Bass. But for some reason Jane hadn't released her from her leash yet.

Maura had followed behind Jane and Jo into the kitchen and was wondering why Jane hadn't unclipped Jo's leash yet. It wasn't until Jane turned towards Maura with her other hand outstretched that Maura understood. In the detective's right hand was a single red rose. Maura hadn't seen it from her angle from the window.

"For you," Jane said with a small smile.

Maura smiled immediately at the gesture and stepped closer to accept the rose. She held it up to her nose to take in the sweet aroma and let her eyes find Jane's. She pulled the rose away and stepped into Jane. Leaning up and in, her lips found the detective's.

The kiss was just as wonderful as the three they had shared the night before. No hesitation. No haste to finish before either was ready. Not overwhelming or forceful. Just genuine and sweet. And just like the night before neither seemed to be good at stopping a kiss once it started so this one, too, went until they both needed to intake some air.

As Maura reluctantly backed away she spoke her voice just above a whisper. "For you."

While her mind was stuck on 'wow' as a reaction somehow Jane managed a response. "I think I won," she said. Seeing Maura raise an eyebrow in confusion she clarified. "That was definitely a better gift."

The smile both women shared lit up the room. It wasn't broken until Jo tugged at the leash she seemed upset was still keeping her from finding her favorite tortoise playmate. Finally, Jane bent down and unhooked Jo's leash. Jo ran over to Maura to make sure she said a proper, all be it quick, hello and then she scampered off to find Bass.

Maura had weaved her way around the kitchen island and reached into a cabinet to pull out a vase for the rose. As Maura attended to the flower, Jane pulled open a drawer and placed Jo's leash into it before shutting it.

"How did it go today?" Maura asked. She was hoping Jane had finally made some progress.

Jane couldn't contain the groan that escaped her.

"That doesn't sound promising," Maura said.

Jane was determined not to let the night turn into 'shop talk' so she briefly did a recap of her day of new information but stalled leads to the ME. "We need to find Grant or another source on Stills which might happen Monday. Otherwise I'm going to try Pelton on Tuesday."

"What about Monday might help you?" Maura asked.

"Jennings," Jane answered. "And we will try to find Grant at her home or work again."

"Jennings?" Maura asked. She hated to even hear that name considering what the man had done to Jane. Maura wasn't resolved with all of that quite yet.

Jane hadn't talked about work at all yesterday wanting to just focus on Maura and their night out. She hadn't told Maura Jennings failed to show up Friday afternoon. "He never made it in yesterday," Jane said. "Korsak said he promised to be here Monday morning."

Maura sensed immediately that Jane didn't want to talk about Jennings or the case which was fine with her. "Something will break," she said reassuringly. She'd seen this for Jane before but in the end Jane had always managed to find just the right piece of information to find their suspect and close their case.

Jane nodded. "I hope so," she said and turned her attention what was cooking on the stove. "Wow, something smells good," she said turning towards Maura. She was done discussing work for the night.

Maura smiled. She had debated the menu for the evening and then had finally decided on Chicken Marsala as she knew it was one of Jane's favorites. "Thank you. It will be ready in about 10 minutes. Can I get you something to drink in the meantime?"

Jane smiled appreciatively knowing Maura had picked one of her favorites on purpose. "A glass of whatever you are having is fine," she answered.

Maura nodded and pulled a wine glass from the cupboard. She poured Jane a glass of the Pinot Noir she had given herself about five minutes before Jane arrived.

As Maura handed her the wine, Jane couldn't help but look around. Anytime they had dinner together they ate at the kitchen island. Both at her place and here. But as Jane looked around she didn't find any place settings on the counter. That surprised her. "Do you want me to set up for dinner?" she volunteered assuming Maura was just running behind.

Maura smiled. She had seen Jane's eyes scan the kitchen for their normal dinner set up. "The table is already set," she answered. She nodded towards the formal dining room. "I just thought we'd do something a little," and she paused not quite sure how to phrase it, "different tonight."

Neither one of them had officially come out and called dinner tonight a date. But as far as Maura was concerned it was. So she wanted it to have a different feel from the hundreds of meals they had shared together side by side in her kitchen. Or Jane's kitchen. She had wanted tonight to stand out as something special.

Jane returned Maura's warm smile. "I'd like that," she said.

It was a small change. Just a relocation of their dining venue from one room to the other but there was something about the gesture that gave Jane a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. She was seeing that anything 'different' with Maura since yesterday had the potential to be a good thing.

They stood in a comfortable silence. Each taking in the apparent significance of moving dinner into the dining room. It took Maura's timer for the Marsala going off before Jane spoke. "At least let me help bring the food out," she offered.

Maura smiled. "You can grab the bottle of wine and also the salad dressing from the fridge." Most of the dinner was already set and ready to go.

Jane went to the fridge and grabbed Maura's preferred salad dressing and then grabbed the bottle of Pinot. She headed into the dining room. A room in which she had to admit she had spent next to no time even with the hundreds of hours she had logged at Maura's house.

When she entered the dining room the scene in front of her took her breath away. The table setup was immaculate. Maura had used the best china, silverware and glasses she had. While full table settings were something Jane normally saw as pretentious and unnecessary, she was completely aware that Maura had gone to the care of this table setting specifically for her. That's what had made it so perfect.

The food was already out on the table. The salads were already dished up and ready to be consumed. Jane had stepped out of Maura's way as she carried the platter of Chicken Marsala in to put onto the table. Jane placed down her items still taking in the set up.

Probably the best thing about the whole set up was that instead of placing Jane at one end of the long, eight person dining table and Maura at the other, Maura had opted for a more intimate setting and their places were directly across from each other. Jane grabbed the bottle of wine and refreshed both her and Maura's glasses. As she settled into her chair Maura completed the last of the details for the setting by lighting the two candles that were in the middle of the table.

"Maur," Jane said softly, "this all looks amazing. You didn't have to go to this much trouble."

Maura smiled, "Thank you," she said. "And actually, yes I did."

R&I

Dinner was excellent. Maura was a fantastic cook and both enjoyed the meal. They slipped easily into casual conversation with each other but both seemed to avoid the specific topic of themselves or what they saw happening. However, both seemed to realize that the conversation was going to happen later in the evening so there wasn't a sense of avoidance. There was what felt like a mutually agreed upon pause.

Maura offered Jane both coffee and dessert but Jane had eaten too much to want either right away. "Why don't we clean up and then we can sit and relax instead," Jane offered.

They both seemed to interpret sit and relax as 'talk'. Maura agreed and started to clear the dishes from the room. Jane grabbed items as well and they made a few trips to get all the dishes from the dining room into the kitchen. From there, Jane went to work on dishes- rinsing items to place them in the dishwasher or washing the ones that just would take up too much room in the dishwasher. Maura handled wrapping up the leftovers and getting items put back. The two worked in almost perfect unison with each other.

Once the dining room was returned to normal and the kitchen was cleared, Maura grabbed both their glasses of wine and followed Jane into the living room. They both settled onto Maura's couch and neither missed their close proximity to the other. The natural comfort between the two was obvious.

Jane turned in towards Maura and spoke, "So," she said and smiled.

"So," Maura answered back matching Jane's smile.

Such a tiny little word seemed to speak volumes.

"We should talk about this," Jane said.

"I agree," Maura replied.

Both exchanged a look as almost a dare for who should start.

"How long?" Jane asked knowing she didn't need to provide more to the question than that. She had been curious as to how long Maura had apparently felt more than friendship.

Maura blushed a little but kept her eye contact. "A while," she admitted. "About a year if I'm completely honest. Or at least about a year that I was fully aware of how I felt."

Jane was surprised by that. How could she have missed what were probably obvious signs if Maura had felt more for her for close to a year? She was a detective for crying out loud.

"And you?" Maura asked the same of Jane just as curious as Jane had been.

"A while," Jane admitted too. "My full awareness probably took a little longer than yours but I've known for sure for about six months."

Maura was surprised by that. She, too, wondered how she could have missed signs from Jane for the last six months. She really should have listened to Angela.

"I…."

"How…."

They both started to speak at the same time again. Each giving a soft chuckle Jane yielded to Maura. "You first," she offered.

"How did I miss that you felt more too?" Maura asked.

Jane sighed and reached over to take Maura's hand in hers. She interlaced her fingers with Maura's and stared down at their joined hands. "I hid it well," she admitted. "For the most part I just refused to let myself think you could ever feel the same. And then I let fear keep me from believing we could be more."

Maura nodded in understanding. She, too, had let fear dictate most of her thinking when it came to Jane. "I did the same thing. I was afraid that you wouldn't feel the same and that I'd lose you if I said anything." A little ashamed she dropped her eyes.

"Hey," Jane said softly and gently reached for Maura's chin with her free hand. She guided Maura's face and more importantly her eyes back up so she could get Maura's full attention. "You can never lose me. Ever." She tone was emphatic and left no room for doubt.

Jane's fingers under Maura's chin slowly slid up and over until her hand was cupping Maura's cheek. Maura leaned into Jane's hand and revealed in the warmth of her touch. They both let the moment linger for a moment until Jane leaned down and captured Maura's lips with hers.

The kiss was warm and welcoming. Tender and full of promise. Jane couldn't help but think that the more they kissed the better they were getting at it. The thought excited her as she knew that with all of this they were just getting started.

And like all the previous kisses, they sustained this one for as long as they could before letting it come to an end. Jane placed a quick, chaste kiss on Maura's lips and repeated, "Ever."

Maura released a contented sigh. The comfort and confidence Jane conveyed with her lips was almost enough to make Maura swoon. She shifted on the couch and snuggled herself into Jane happy to feel Jane's arms pulling her in even closer. They stayed quiet enjoying the moment.

"What is it that you want?" Jane asked quietly.

Maura thought about the question for a moment before answering. "More of this," she said earnestly. "And after that, I think I just want for us to be." She wasn't sure she was explaining herself in the right way.

"To be?" Jane asked not exactly sure what Maura meant.

"Yes," she said. "Whatever this is between us I don't want to get caught up in trying to label it or fitting it into other people's idea of what we should or shouldn't be. I just want to be us."

Jane understood a little better what Maura meant. She, too, didn't want to get caught up in predetermined ideas or stereotypes. "I think I get what you mean," she said.

"What is it that you want?" Maura again threw the question back at Jane.

"I want to see if this _is _us," she said."I want to see if we are meant to be more than we are right now."

Maura smiled. "Do you think we are meant to be more?" she asked softly.

Jane didn't answer for a minute. And then her means of answering surprised Maura. Jane leaned in and captured the ME's lips for a third kiss on the night. Tender and confident, this kiss lingered for longer than the previous two and in the end left both women a little breathless. "I think so," Jane put words to her answer finally.

Maura smiled and kept her eyes locked onto Jane's. "I hope so," she said.

"Maura," she started, "I don't know much about what will happen or even what all of this is supposed to mean. But I do know that you make me feel something I have never felt before. My reaction to your touch is unlike anything I've ever experienced before. And I know enough to know that means something."

Maura reached out and took Jane's hand into hers. Staring down at their hands she agreed. "Even this," she said, "something as simple as holding your hand makes my whole body tingle."

Jane also focused in and their now joined hands. "For you, holding hands is simple. But for me, it's anything but." She paused for a moment but then continued. "But this is maybe the best example that I have that there is something more between us."

Maura thought she understood what Jane meant but she waited patiently for Jane to continue talking.

"Things have always been different with you. From the day I met you, you have always been the exception for me." Jane hoped Maura understood what she meant by that.

"Exception?" Maura asked not sure how to take that.

"Yeah," Jane answered. "I allow things with you I don't allow with anyone else. You can touch my hands and I won't pull away. I will talk with you when I don't confide in anyone else. I know it's ok to vulnerable around you when I won't show any kind of weakness to anyone else. You are the exception. That means something."

"Perhaps," Maura answered. As Jane had listed several examples Maura mentally went through some of her own. She did get to see sides of Jane that no one else would ever get to experience. "You are my exception too," she admitted. "You listen to me even when I rattle off on topics that don't interest you. You accept who I am without trying to change me. You put my needs ahead of your own. You watch out and protect me like no one else has ever done and that, too, means something."

A silence settled over them as they both seemed to think about what the other had said. "Have you ever," Jane started but didn't finish the question.

Maura knew what she was asking. "No," she said. "I haven't. Have you?"

Jane shook her head. "No," she said. They were quiet for a moment before Jane asked. "Do you think that matters?"

It was Maura's turn to think for a minute. "I don't believe it should matter." She'd never been with a woman before. She hadn't wanted that until Jane. "This isn't about sex or experimenting," Maura said.

"It's not for me either," Jane quickly reassured Maura.

"Don't get me wrong," replied Maura. "There is definitely an attraction here. But there is so much more to this than the physical attraction. There is an emotional connection I feel with you that is beyond anything I have ever felt before."

Jane was in agreement. There was a physical attraction but she felt something more for the ME and she knew it. She had known that for a long time. That's what she wanted to explore further. "So," she said realizing that they seemed to be on the same page with each other. "Is this just something as simple as agreeing we both want more and then allowing that to happen?" She wasn't completely sure how they were going to move forward.

"Relationships are never simple," Maura answered. "But I think for us the hard part was allowing ourselves to admit to each other that we both want something more. We've done that. Now I think we work on letting our relationship progress and move forward."

"How do we do that?" Jane asked. She really wasn't completely sure. They were already together all the time. They were in each other's lives both at work and at home. They already knew most everything about the other. But moving forward in this direction meant changes. Some big and some small. Just like when Jane got to Maura's and didn't know if she should knock on the door or just let herself in, things that used to just be for them may suddenly be different.

"We do what we are doing right now," Maura answered. "We spend time together. We do what feels right when we are together. We try not to overthink things or put any unnecessary pressure on ourselves. We take things at a natural pace without trying to rush anything and we talk about the things we want."

Maura made it sound so simple. So rational. Jane couldn't help but believe in what she was saying. "I think we can do that," Jane answered.

Maura had been cuddled into Jane's side as they were talking. Their hands had remained connected and Maura felt completely comfortable and relaxed on that couch curled into Jane. "I think we can, too," Maura replied and she leaned up to press her lips against Jane's once again.

They were definitely getting better at the whole kissing thing which Maura was amazed by considering the fact that she felt even their first kiss had been perfect. But each one seemed to be better than the one before. Her body reacted to the feel of Jane's lips and her taste more intensely with each effort.

She was in the middle of letting herself enjoy this current kiss when she felt a new sensation. Jane's tongue ran gently across her bottom lip. That sparked something completely new within Maura and her body reacted before her mind caught up. Her lips parted and allowed Jane's tongue entrance.

She had thought nothing could feel as good to her as Jane's soft lips pressed against her own. That was until she felt the first sensations of Jane's tongue beginning the slow and deliberate exploration of the confines of her mouth. So wrapped up in the sensation, she didn't even try to vie for dominance. She simply let Jane explore as she wanted for as long as she wanted.

All too soon the kiss again came to an end. Maura was left breathless and couldn't even really focus to see what it had done to Jane. She was too busy trying to slow down her own breathing to concentrate on Jane.

"Wow," was all Maura managed to say after a few more moments.

"Yeah," was about all Jane could manage. She was breathless yet again and her mind was now fully preoccupied with knowing that not only was the taste of Maura the absolute sweetest taste she had ever known but that it was one she was sure she was going to need in her life as often as possible.

They stayed snuggled into each other on the couch for a few moments just enjoying their closeness. After a while Maura spoke. "Stay," she said quietly but insistently. Jane didn't answer right away. "Neither of us is ready for that," she said assuming Jane was a little worried about what Maura was implying with the invitation to stay with her. "I would just like to sleep in your arms tonight."

Hearing that made Jane smile. It was good to hear that Maura didn't seem ready for more quite yet either. "I would like to wake up in your arms tomorrow," she admitted.

They had slept over at each other's place hundreds of times prior to tonight. But tonight was different. Tonight was the first time they would be sharing a bed as more than just friends. Both took Jane's answer as it was intended. It was an acceptance of the invitation to stay.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The morning light started to filter into the master bedroom of the Beacon Hill home. The change in the room was all it took for Maura to stir always a natural early riser. She slowly let herself drift into consciousness from the relaxing place of sleep she had just occupied. As she started to become aware of her surroundings she first felt the warmth radiating from the body next to her and then felt strong arms securely wrapped around her.

Jane.

She couldn't help but smile remembering that she gotten her wish last night. She had wanted nothing more than to fall asleep in Jane's arms and that's exactly what had happened. They had spent a little more time talking as they cuddled on the couch until it was time to head to bed.

Jane was a cuddler.

Again, she couldn't stop the smile as she realized her badass detective seemed to take absolute pleasure in just cuddling with Maura the night before. And as Maura opened her eyes and took in the sight of herself curled tightly into Jane's side with her head resting comfortably in the crook of Jane's neck it was clear to her that Jane seemed content to cuddle at night too. Not that she was complaining.

The feel of Jane wrapped around her was better than she had ever imagined. They had shared a bed hundreds of times in the past but this was the first time she had woken up deliberately wrapped in the detective's arms. Sure on occasion she had woken to Jane pressed into her or a random body part, usually a leg, draped across her. But that was accidental and she would have to fight with herself not to read into what she was sure at the time was a result of Jane's restless sleep and not actual affection.

But now. Now she was allowed the embrace she found herself in. Now she was able to thoroughly enjoy just how good it felt to be wrapped in the detective's arms. How safe it felt. How right it seemed. Just how good Jane smelled. And as she took in the sleeping beauty she was using as a pillow, just how absolutely gorgeous the woman was.

Maura had always been taken by Jane's natural beauty. It seemed effortless for the detective and Maura was well aware of how unaware Jane was of her looks. That was part of what Maura loved about Jane. While she wasn't hung up on how she looked, Jane was very comfortable and confident in her own skin. The confidence radiated from within Jane and she never tried to be anything she wasn't.

Tall and slender, from a distance Jane could appear to fragile. But the detective was anything but. Years on the force and a rigorous exercise regimen had defined and shaped the woman whose strong arms now held the ME. Jane was solid and honestly a force to be reckoned with but she managed to offset that physical edge with soft curves in all the right places. She never managed to lose her femininity all the while maintaining that tough as nails exterior.

Maura was getting a chance to appreciate the detective's features as she lay there that morning. As she focused on the detective she loved how relaxed and at peace Jane appeared to be in that moment. It was rare to see her this relaxed and Maura knew she wanted to do everything she could to help Jane achieve her current level of contentment as often as possible. If there was anything she could do to give this to Jane she would do so without question.

Having absolutely no desire to break out of Jane's embrace or deprive herself of Jane's touch, Maura burrowed in closer to Jane and resettled. She again took in Jane's scent and found it relaxed her almost as much as listening to the rhythmic beating of Jane's heart. That strong, consistent beat soon became Maura's personal lullaby as she let herself drift slowly back to sleep.

R&I

Just how much time passed before Maura stirred a second time she wasn't sure. She was aware that both she and Jane had shifted a bit since her last repositioning. She hadn't broken out of Jane's arms but the grip the detective seemed to have on the ME was certainly looser and Maura knew there was definitely wiggle room for her to get up without waking Jane. It was unusual for Maura not to have gotten out of bed the first time she woke up. She rarely ever let herself fall back asleep. But she had already once that morning and she surprised herself by contemplating that feat a second time.

But as she thought about it, she knew this time she was awake enough that sleep would not find her for a third time. She turned to check the time glancing at the clock on her night stand. It was 7:24 am. That had been the latest Maura had slept in a long time. Realizing again that Jane's hold on her was loose enough that she could in fact get up she decided she should do just that as the notion of coffee started to stir through her thoughts.

Just as she started to slide out of Jane's arms, they suddenly tightened around her. The action startled Maura as she was certain the detective was still asleep. She figured Jane would just resettle and she would try to get up again. So when she felt the tension in Jane's arms release she tried again. Again, Jane's arms tightened the hold she had.

"I thought we had an agreement," came from a still sleep filled voice of the detective. Maura wasn't sure what to do or say so she was quiet. Not hearing an answer from the ME, Jane spoke again eyes still closed. "I get to wake up with you in my arms."

Hearing that Maura looked up at Jane. The detective was still refusing to open her eyes but she had a grin settled on her face and Maura could tell she was in fact awake.

"I'm here," she tried to point out still taking in the peaceful look upon the detective's face.

Jane's arms once again tightened about the ME and Jane shifted so she could pull Maura in even closer. "You were trying to escape," she said.

Maura couldn't help but chuckle. Technically Jane was correct. She had been caught trying to slip out of bed. "I wouldn't call it escaping," Maura said gently. "I was going for coffee."

Jane smiled and slowly opened her eyes. She let her eyes adjust to the natural lighting in the room and then focused them down onto the ME. "Well," she said playfully, "I guess if coffee is involved."

The smile settled onto both women as they lay quietly in bed Maura no longer trying to get up. "Good morning," Maura said softly.

Jane again tightened her embrace and leaned down for a kiss. While she wanted the kiss to be as passionate as the last several kisses they shared the night before she didn't want to seem too eager either. She still wasn't exactly sure how much or how aggressive she could or should be.

Maura seemed ready for that kind of morning greeting as she worked to deepen the first touch of lips the two were to share that morning. The sensation of Maura's lips on Jane's was all it took for Jane to end any hesitancy. She fully committed to their first kiss of the morning quickly deciding that this was now her new favorite way to wake up.

"Morning," Jane finally uttered only after their kiss had ended and they had reluctantly pulled apart. Jane released a sigh of content and refocused her eyes on Maura. "I could really get used to this," she said.

"Saying good morning?" Maura asked with a smile.

"Finding you in my arms," Jane clarified and her smile seemed to light up the room.

Maura knew she already had that same experience twice this morning so she understood exactly what Jane meant. "We may have to do something about that," she teased.

This time it was Maura that initiated the kiss. Soft and unhurried. It seemed to fit the moment with its relaxed nature but lasted as long as both could go without being completely deprived of oxygen.

"Every day," Jane mumbled barely loud enough for Maura to hear.

"Every day?" Maura repeated not sure what Jane meant or if she even meant to say anything at all.

Jane refocused on Maura and seemed to realize that she had said her thought process out loud. "I was just thinking that I could do that every day of my life and be happy."

Maura blushed as Jane's words registered with her. She really didn't know what to say to that.

Jane didn't seem to be looking for a response as she shifted a little to straighten up. "I thought you wanted coffee," she said seeming to realize Maura hadn't gotten up after that initial effort.

Maura let out a contented sigh. "I'm comfortable now," she answered. Now that Jane was awake she really didn't want to be away from her embrace. The coffee could wait.

Jane chuckled. "As comfortable as we both are we probably should get up at some point," she said. "You know Ma will be over by 8."

Angela had a tradition of ending up at Maura's house around 8 on Sundays. She was always a bundle of energy on Sunday dinner nights and seemed to need to funnel some of that energy into projects. Maura, and Jane if she had stayed over the night before, was often treated to breakfast while Angela started whatever preparations would be needed for their dinner.

For the first time all morning the smile left Maura's face. That was not missed by Jane.

"What?" Jane asked a little concerned about Maura's unexplained mood change.

Maura dropped her eyes and said in a low, soft voice, "I need to tell you something."

R&I

Jane sat up pulling Maura up with her. Maura's sudden change had her nervous and in her experience not much good ever came from a statement like 'I need to tell you something'. She looked at Maura and waited for her to talk.

"Jane," Maura said softly but paused just not sure how to continue.

"Hey," Jane said softly. "It can't be anything too bad," she more hoped than believed. "Tell me."

Maura took a deep breath and spoke, "ImayhaveaccidentallytoldyourmotherthatIhadcertainfeeingsforyou," she said so quickly Jane barely had time to register what exactly it was Maura had just admitted to.

"And?" Jane asked expecting to hear something more.

"And?" Maura responded almost incredulously. "And nothing. But I know how private you are and how much you hate having your mother know anything about your personal life. I swear I didn't mean to tell her anything. It just happened. In fact I don't even really know what it was exactly that I said because in my defense I was drunk one night but the next morning she was all sympathetic and motherly like you know she can be and she seemed to just know so I knew I said something and when she told me that I should tell you how I feel about you I know I should have tried to deny it but you know I can't lie and I didn't want to have a vasovagal experience in front of her as that would have just scared her so I ended up admitting that I did have feelings for you. Jane I swear she doesn't know anything about Friday night well that's not exactly true she knows you took me roller skating and that we had a good time but I was able to avoid her questions about anything more and she didn't get it out of me that we kissed or that you have feelings for me but I'm not sure how long I am going to be able to avoid having her find out because she'll see me this morning and I think she will just know because she always says mothers just have a way of knowing things and I'm going to totally give us away and I'm so sorry for that."

Jane hadn't reacted to anything during Maura's rant. That only seemed to make Maura more nervous. She didn't want Jane upset with her. Finally Jane reacted.

By laughing.

Hysterically.

Maura sat watching Jane laugh so hard tears started to trickle down her cheeks. Of all the reactions Maura had feared Jane would have, a laughing fit had not made the list. She was too shocked and still too uncertain to say anything.

It took Jane a minute to compose herself. When she finally caught her breath she realized Maura was staring at her and saw the utter confusion etched on her face.

"I'm sorry," she said as her breathing returned to normal but she was still slightly giggling. "But that was the most adorable thing I've ever seen from you."

"Why are laughing at me?" she asked in a slightly whiny tone. "Aren't you mad?"

Again the look on Maura's face was priceless. It was a cross between guilt and trepidation. Jane couldn't resist and she pulled Maura into her for another kiss. This one more forceful than any of the ones they had already shared that morning but it was still tender and full of care. She was hoping the kiss would convey her feelings thinking Maura may believe actions more than words.

"No," she said as the kiss ended. "I'm not mad." She straightened up and let her eyes focus on Maura.

"But Angela," Maura started.

"Is nosy and overwhelming by nature," Jane finished. "You never stood a chance with her."

"Jane," Maura started.

"Maura," Jane immediately pushed back. "I've had my whole life to learn how to handle that woman and she can still even get to me. You've only had a couple of years, you can't tell a lie and you're, well you're you. You are an easy target for Ma."

"You're really not mad that I've talked to her?" Maura asked wanting to check again. She had expected Jane to be at least mildly upset by this.

Jane shook her head. "No," she said. "In fact, I'm glad you had someone you could talk with."

She meant that too. She knew exactly what it was like to be struggling with coming terms with feelings she wasn't sure she 'should' have or if they were mutual. She faced that struggle alone and while that was generally her nature it was a lonely place to find herself. She didn't want that for Maura. She never wanted Maura to feel alone in the world. She was grateful Maura had her mother to turn to and even more grateful for her mother being there for Maura when clearly she couldn't be.

That made Maura smile. "In her defense, she's been nothing but supportive. She tried for months to convince me that you felt the same for me."

That made Jane chuckle. She should have known her mother would know how she felt. "How long ago?" Jane asked suddenly curious as to how long Angela had to live with not being able to say anything about something this big.

"About six months," Maura admitted sheepishly.

"Wow," Jane said. "I'm impressed she managed to keep it in this long."

"She didn't want to interfere," Maura said and Jane had to stifle a laugh. "Alright, maybe it was more like she was afraid if she did interfere and you weren't open or ready for any of this she could mess things up for us in the long run."

That made sense to Jane and she was touched by her mother's actions. "Maura," she said, "I still don't know everything that this will be for us but I refuse to start out with us hiding what we might be. We are sensible, consenting adults. If we are going to be an 'us' I can only hope our true friends and family will accept us and be happy for us. If they can't, well then I would say they don't truly care for either one of us."

Maura was blown away about how confident and at ease Jane seemed. She hadn't spent too much time thinking about it but there was a small concern that Jane may not be too comfortable with such a shift in her sexuality. Jane, at times, didn't appear to be too at ease with even having conversations about sex. So for her not to even appear to be phased by Angela's apparent belief that Jane harbored feelings for Maura only served to impress Maura.

"So you really are alright with this?" Maura asked.

"Yes," Jane said emphatically and again pulled Maura into a kiss to once more prove she meant what she was saying. Once the kiss came to an end Jane looked right into Maura's eyes. "I'll try to reign in my mother's enthusiasm once she finds out I'm not running for the hills but I can't promise anything on that front. Just be prepared for demands about grandchildren if she hasn't already tried to plan that out for us."

"She hasn't," Maura answered. "Yet."

That got them both to laugh. As they both looked at each other and both seemed to start to lean in for another kiss an aroma caught both of their attentions.

"Speak of the devil," Jane said knowing the coffee they were smelling had been started by Angela.

"Jane," Maura admonished.

"It's an expression," Jane said defensively.

"We should get up," Maura said. She wouldn't put it past Angela to come upstairs to check on them and while they were both fully clothed and Angela had seen them share a bed before it felt different this time.

Jane nodded. "You can use the bathroom first," she offered. "I'll head down and keep her from coming up to look for us."

They shared one last, quick but full kiss before they both moved to get out of bed. Maura headed for the bathroom and Jane headed downstairs to talk with her mother.

R&I

"Morning," Jane announced as she entered the kitchen. She headed straight to the cupboard and pulled down two cups for coffee. She poured herself a cup and set the cup for Maura next to the coffee maker.

"Morning," Angela answered back. "Where's Maura?" She was used to the ME being up and awake long before Jane on a Sunday morning if Jane had stayed over.

"She'll be down in a minute," Jane answered. She moved over to one of the island bar stools and took a seat.

"Do you girls want breakfast?" Angela asked. It was sort of their routine. Jane didn't spend every weekend at Maura's but she did more than she didn't. Since Maura hosted the Sunday dinner Angela always made them breakfast while she also worked on dinner prep.

"Yeah," Jane answered. "I'm starving."

Angela nodded. "Pancakes?" she asked.

Jane shook her head. "A little too heavy. Eggs?"

"Eggs it is," Angela said and went to the refrigerator to get out ingredients to make both of them omelets. As she was digging around she noticed what must have been leftovers from a dinner from the night before. Seeing it was Chicken Marsala she knew Maura had cooked for Jane.

She gathered her items and went to carry them over to the island to start prepping the omelets. She'd been in and out of the kitchen and the guest house all morning and quite honestly hadn't paid too much attention to her surroundings but when she placed the eggs and vegetables down on the island she also noticed the single red rose in a vase. A rose that hadn't been there yesterday morning.

In a nanosecond Angela pieced together what she thought it meant. A red rose. Jane's favorite dinner. Their date on Friday night. She dropped the rest of what she had in her hands and stared at her daughter.

Jane would wonder exactly what it was that tipped off Angela to what she knew was no longer a secret given the look on her mother's face. She couldn't remember ever seeing her mother's eyes as wide as the one's staring back at her.

Jane looked at her mother and sighed. "I have two things I need to say to you," she started keeping Angela's eyes focused on her. "First," she paused making sure her mother was listening. Angela seemed to be temporarily stunned into silence but at least managed a slight nod of her head. "We are trying to figure this all out," Jane gave her mother the admission she knew Angela wanted to hear. "This is new for the both of us and I am going to ask that you try to temper your excitement about what this all could mean while Maura and I try to find that out on our own.

"Second," she again waited for a moment so Angela could fully comprehend that her daughter just admitted to being at the start of a romantic relationship with a woman her mother already considered to be a part of the Rizzoli family. "Thank you."

It was simple but Jane couldn't have meant it more. Angela had been there for Maura which already was something Jane was truly grateful for. But she was grateful for something else even more. She had let Jane come to where she was on her own. She hadn't interfered or pushed her opinions and desires onto Jane and she had known how Maura felt for at least six months. That went against everything her mother usually stood for and it just proved to Jane that her mother loved both her and Maura enough to let them both get to the same place on their own terms.

Angela hadn't been expecting either of what she had been told. She hadn't expected Jane to admit that she was exploring a relationship with Maura and she certainly hadn't any reason to expect a thank you from her daughter. So when Jane got up from the bar stool and pulled her mother into a hug that finally pushed her over the edge. She couldn't help the tears that fell down her cheeks.

Jane gently kissed her mother's cheek and in a soft voice finished her thought. "You were there for Maura when she needed someone. And by letting me figure this out on my own, you were there for me as well."

"I….." Angela tried to respond but really couldn't find her voice.

Jane let the embrace end and moved to sit back down on the bar stool. "One request," she said. Angela just nodded as she still couldn't really speak yet. "We've only had about a day for all of this to sink in. Can you not go into 20 questions with Maura the minute she comes downstairs? Will you give us a few more days to get our feet firmly under us before pouncing on her?"

That made Angela chuckle a bit. She nodded as she wiped away the few tears that were still on her skin. She cleared her throat and finally seemed to be able to speak. "I think I can wait a couple more days." She smiled and straightened herself up. Looking at Jane she added "No matter what happens I am so very proud of you. And I love you both very much."

Jane had to look away not to let the emotions of that moment get to her. Angela was quiet for a moment but then proceeded to start the omelets for both her girls.

R&I

Dinner was always at 6 pm on Sundays but everyone who was attending usually started to appear on the steps of the Beacon Hill home around 4 pm. It was a Rizzoli tradition but over the years the guest list seemed to expand. Maura. Frost. Korsak. If any of them happened to be dating someone that person was always welcome as well.

The afternoon had passed quickly. Maura was a little on edge because she couldn't seem to get Jane to tell her what she and Angela had talked about that morning before she came downstairs. All she knew for sure was that she had walked in on some conversation which Angela immediately changed. She was fed the biggest omelet Angela had ever made her and all throughout the afternoon she would catch Angela just staring at her and smiling. It was starting to freak her out.

Tommy and Frankie were the first to arrive and had joined Maura in the family room to watch TV. Angela's odd behavior and Jane's refusal to tell her anything other than 'I'll explain later' had Maura so worked up she made Jane help Angela in the kitchen. A task which she normally did with Angela herself.

Neither of the boys seemed to ask why Jane was in the kitchen and Maua was watching TV with them. Both just seemed relieved not to be asked to help with dinner.

It was around 4 when Jane's cell phone rang. "Rizzoli," she answered. Listening for a minute she spoke. "Thanks." After another pause she replied, "No, I'll call Sergeant Korsak and Detective Frost. Thank you." She then hung up the phone.

"A case?" Angela asked.

Maura had walked into the kitchen when she heard Jane's phone. When hers didn't ring right away she knew it wasn't a new case.

"No," Jane answered her mother but was looking at Maura when she did. "I think we just caught our first real break. They picked up Nancy Grant."

Angela had no idea who Nancy Grant was but Maura did. "That's great," she said.

"They are holding her at the station," she said.

"Go," Maura said.

Jane nodded and gave Maura a quick kiss before heading out. She would call the guys on the way.

Maura realized Jane had kissed her in front of Angela. Looking up, Angela had the same grin on her face she had all day long. Still not sure what to make of it, Maura quickly retreated back into the family room to hide out amongst the Rizzoli men.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Jane reached both Frost and Korsak as she drove to the station. She couldn't believe they had finally caught a decent break. In the years she had been a detective, she could count on one hand the number of times a want for a person of interest actually was executed. Usually the only way detectives caught up with persons of interest would be when that person voluntarily surrendered to the police.

But in the case of Nancy Grant, a patrol officer spotted the Toyota Camry from one of the recently issued BOLOs. He performed a routine traffic stop and when he ran Grant's information he found the want. The officer then detained Grant and had the Camry impounded.

The officer had no explanation for Grant as to why she was being taken into custody other than telling her she was a person of interest and there was a want out for her detention for questioning. The officer was inclined to believe that Grant was at least partially aware of what the whole thing about because she didn't seem to argue with him or ask further questions once he told her she was to be detained.

She never said another word to him as they drove to the station. He had escorted her up to the interview rooms on the homicide floor and was somewhat surprised when she didn't even ask anything when she took her seat and was told the investigating detectives were on their way in to speak with her.

Jane was the first to arrive at the station but it didn't take the guys long before they followed.

"Can you believe it?" Frost asked. He had never had any of his person of interest wants actually be found and detained.

"No," Jane answered truthfully. "I mean the way this case was going I would have bet money that we'd never find Grant." This was just that kind of case where they seemed to go a step forward but then two steps backwards.

"How do you want to play this?" Korsak asked as he had entered.

"Have you guys seen her yet?" Jane asked. Jane always spent a few minutes observing the interviewee's behavior before going into the room. She found it helpful to get a sense of overall behavior or level of nervousness from behind the observation glass. Most people were smart enough to realize that the mirrors in the room were probably two way but no matter how cool they tried to play it there were always a few 'tells' Jane could pick up on and use during an interview.

"I just looked in on her," Korsak said. "She looks scared."

That was Jane's observation as well. Some people would get nervous when left alone in the interview room. Some people would get scared. Others grew angry and impatient. A select few would be relaxed and seem overly confident. Every person was just a little bit different. Watching a subject before starting the interview also helped you get an idea of their frame of mind. Both Korsak and Jane agreed that fear had found Nancy Grant. But of what or whom, they just didn't know yet.

"She didn't ask Gonzales why she was being held or what kind of questions we have for her," Frost said. He had spoken to the detaining officer to get a sense of her behavior. "He also said she didn't ask much about why her car was being impounded."

"Clearly she knows something," Jane pointed out. She could work with scared. In fact, scared was probably the easiest to work with. Scared meant you knew something and it was just a matter of finding that one thing that would get you to open up and start talking. Scared also meant you cared. You cared about your own situation or that was someone else's. And Jane could always work with someone who cared.

"Assume and defuse?" Jane suggested.

It was a simple approach in a team interview tactic. During the first go at the person, the detective would just start telling the person assumptions about what she, in this case, did or didn't do or know. There was usually two detectives in the room and they talked more to each other than the interviewee. They would pick the harshest acts or crimes their subject could know about or be a part of and talk to each other about what their subject knew or how she was involved.

The object of the assumption phase of the interview was to get the subject to react. Nonverbal reactions were best but sometimes there would be verbal ones. The third detective observing from behind the glass would make behavior observations during the assumptions phase to see which ones gained reactions. As the detectives would discuss topics more between themselves than the subject they also did everything they could to make the charges and evidence sound so bad that the subject feared being the center of the conversation.

It would be up to the third detective to be able to defuse the situation. The third detective would usually interrupt and take over the interview. Getting the more aggressive detectives out of the room the third detective would actual converse with the subject and try to calm the person down by taking off the table any of the assumptions that hadn't caused a behavioral hit. It served to narrow down the interview topics but played in the mind of the detainee that the seriousness or risk was reducing as 'charges' were disregarded.

It was an updated and behavior based version of 'good cop, bad cop'. Jane and the guys used it quite frequently and it worked well with the ones who were already pretty scared. Nancy Grant was already pretty scared.

"I think so," Korsak agreed. "Frost and I can take the first wave. What do you not want on the table?"

They deliberately withheld certain pieces of evidence or questioning in the first wave to not show their complete hand too soon.

"Keep Pelton off the table. Nothing about visits or logs," Jane stated. She wanted that one to be a complete surprise. "And don't let her know we have her on video picking Stills up." Everything else would be fair game for the guys.

Korsak nodded. He and Frost worked very well together during interviews. "Let's do this," he said. Jane went to go watch behind the glass and the guys went to start the interview process with Grant.

R&I

Jane turned on the speaker as Frost and Korsak took their seats across from Grant. Seeing two detectives come in and sit made the woman even more scared than when she was sitting in the room alone. Jane was fairly certain she could get Grant to talk after the guys got her all railed up.

"I'm Sergeant Korsak and this is Detective Frost," Korsak started. He recapped to Grant that she was being detained because she was a person of interest in an ongoing investigation and let her know she was allowed a lawyer. Grant declined and asked what the investigation was about.

Korsak didn't answer her as Jane knew he wouldn't. It was Frost's turn to speak. "For starters Nancy," Frost said, "you need to tell us the whereabouts of Walter Stills."

Jane's first observable behavior tell came when Grant raised her hand to scratch at the corner of her right eye before answering. "I don't know a Walter Stills," she replied in a weak voice the guys doubted even she would have believed.

Jane knew the eye scratch was nervous energy needing to go somewhere. In a stressful situation such as an interview, there was only so many things a person could focus on and control. Thinking of answers, or in most cases for the police, lies made the interviewee have to fabricate details and answers all the while trying to forcibly maintain eye contract and a regular breathing pattern. The body couldn't do that and still contain the growing nervousness each lie would add.

Somewhere there would be a tell. A twitch. A scratch motion. The tap of a foot. Something the person wouldn't even realize they were doing. Nancy appeared to be a scratcher. Jane was sure the guys had seen it and would test it to make sure.

Here came Korsak's test. "No. She doesn't need to tell us where Stills is. We've got a good line on his location and the DA wants to keep her on aiding and abetting." Jane had to smile at that line. "You," he turned to Grant, "need to tell us where you were last Sunday night between the hours of midnight and 6 am."

And there was the eye scratch again. "Last Sunday?" she asked stalling for time.

"Last Sunday night from midnight to 6 am," Korsak repeated. "You were with Stills weren't you?" She scratched again and then answered. "I don't know who this Stills is. Sunday night I would have been asleep from midnight to 6 am."

Jane noticed that she seemed calmer about the time frame than during her denial about knowing Stills again. Her guess was that Grant wasn't with Stills during their murder window. She made of note of that.

"Asleep?" Frost answered as if he was surprised she would offer such an answer. "You do have, of course, someone who can confirm that you were asleep. Were you at your home or with Stills?"

"I was at my home and I was alone," she answered without a scratch of any kind. Jane made another note that it was appear as if she wasn't with Stills when he had Allyson Sunday night.

"Are we really going to sit here and listen to her tell us she was 'at home'?" Frost interrupted. "This is a waste of our time. I told you should wasn't going to tell us anything. We might as well just wait until the lab finishes running the tests on the Malibu. I'm sure her prints are all over that car and then we can just pop her for being a co-conspirator."

This was the guys kicking it up a notch. They stopped asking her questions and started talking to each other in a pseudo-debate over evidence like the car they didn't yet have, the trace of the activation of the pre-paid credit card and a bunch of nonsense about cell phones and pings off of cell towers.

Grant just had to sit and listen to the guys list evidence all the while never mentioning murder as the crime they were investigating. Jane got a read on some physical tells other than the scratching. She would shift her weight in the chair she occupied if a topic made her overly nervous.

Jane noted that behavior with the mention of the pre-paid credit card and talk about cell phones. Although Jane got the sense that Grant was more worried about the cell phone than a tower ping. She made a note that Frost needed to dump her cell phone.

Jane was impressed with her partners' ability to discuss charges with Grant without really asking too many questions all the time not mentioning murder specifically. They went at Grant for another thirty minutes talking around her and adding phrases like accessory before and after the fact. Frost threw in impeding an ongoing investigation and Korsak for added measure finally let it slip when he mentioned felony murder but didn't explain the concept.

The guys had done their job. Grant was more scared and had terms like felony murder, coconspirator and accessory before and after swirling through her head. They let her weakly deny knowing Stills one more time before Frost got Jane's text that she was sure Grant would spill to her and for them to wrap up their part in questioning. They went at it for another couple of minutes and then left the room letting Grant stew about what was said and what things the two detectives handled asked yet.

Most times when you have done something you weren't supposed to do and have any concern at all about getting caught, you tend to have answers or excuses planned and practiced just in case you were in fact caught. You convince yourself you know what questions will be asked and that is those questions you try to prepare yourself to hear.

When those questions never come, though, that makes it all the more difficult for the interviewee as their planned answers haven't been asked for but instead was asked things that didn't appear to make sense.

It keeps the person off balance so that when the third interviewer gives them a soft pitch to swing at they simply start to feel better finally being given the chance to share a memorized answer.

Frost and Korsak left Grant in the room to try to recover from her first encounter and Jane prepared herself for the crucial second wave in the interview process.

R&I

Jane gathered her notes and the photos she planned to use during the interview and headed towards the room. She had watched both Frost and Korsak do a good job of rattling Grant without tipping her off that it was a murder investigation. The most Grant knew from them was that they wanted Stills. If she offered up anything else to Jane it would be because she had direct knowledge of it. And that was exactly what Jane wanted.

She entered the room and could tell immediately that Grant was relieved it wasn't Frost or Korsak returning. They hadn't really tried to talk to her or listen the few times she tried to speak so having another go at that wasn't anything she wanted to do.

Jane took her seat and made eye contact with Grant. "Nancy," she started, "I'm Detective Rizzoli. We've got some things to talk about."

Grant shook her head. "I don't know anything," she said. "I don't know anything about what those other guys were talking about."

Jane kept her eye contact with Grant. "That's not exactly true Nancy. And we both know that." She stared at Grant as she challenged her honesty. She let a silence settle for a moment letting Grant stew knowing she was at least lying about a few things. "Why don't you and I try something here that will save us both some time. Why don't you stop the lies and I'll pretend I wasn't in that viewing booth while you were saying them. That way, I can sit here and start out a conversation with you with a clean slate."

"But…" Grant started.

"No," Jane said sternly. "We are going to skip the whole 'I don't know' part and get down to discussing what you do know. I am giving you the denials to my partners but I won't give you any for me. We need to start being honest here. This isn't a game and there's a lot at stake. You and I are going to talk this whole thing through and I expect you to be honest with me. I will be honest with you but that has to go both ways."

Grant dropped her head but didn't try to argue with Jane about not being truthful. Jane took that as her cue to continue.

"For starters," Jane said and pulled out a photo of Stills. "Who is this man?"

Grant looked at the photo of Stills. Jane had chosen the one from the parking garage as she wasn't ready to tip her hand towards Pelton and Cedar Junction just yet. As Grant looked at the photo she started to raise her hand in what Jane assumed was going to be a scratch of her eye so she interrupted.

"Nancy," she warned. "The whole honesty thing here isn't optional. You are about to lie to me and I really need you to not do that. This one is an easy one. We both know who this is so let's not play this game."

Grant dropped her hand back down onto the table completely unsure how the detective sitting across from her knew she was about to lie. "That's Walter," Grant answered in a small voice.

Jane nodded. Finally some progress. "Yes, it is. Walter who?" She wanted to know if Grant knew him by any other name.

"Stills," Grant answered.

"Have you ever known him to go by any other name?" Jane asked and watched Grant's body language more than she listened to her words.

"No," she said. Given her body language, Jane was inclined to believe her. She was hoping Grant might know his actual identity.

"Alright," she said. "Now we are getting somewhere. How do you know Walter Stills?" They had been assuming it was some personal relationship but they could be wrong

"He is….was my boyfriend," Grant answered. Jane was interested in the 'was' part of that answer.

"Do you know why we are talking to you about Walter?" Jane asked.

Grant's hand went up and scratched the corner of her eye. "No," she answered.

"Nancy," Jane said sternly. "I thought we were making some good progress on the whole telling the truth part of this. Don't fall back into what is a very bad reaction to all of this. I will need to know everything you know about the things Walter has done."

Jane could have re-asked the question but she decided to table it for a few minutes. "Do you know where Walter is right now?"

Grant shivered and shifted in her seat which Jane knew wasn't a tell for dishonesty but one for fear. "No," she answered. She was telling the truth but something about that question scared her.

"When was the last time you saw Walter?" she asked.

"Last Sunday," Grant answered. "Sunday morning," she clarified.

"That was a week ago," Jane replied. "You haven't seen your boyfriend in a week?" She knew Grant had said 'ex' but she wanted to test a theory.

Grant shook her head. "No," she said. It was in a small voice but Jane didn't doubt her.

Jane shifted topics again and pulled out a photo of Pelton sliding it in front of Grant. She watched Grant's reaction as this was the first time they were putting any information about Pelton out for her to even think about. The look she got from Grant she had seem many times in her career. She always referred to it as the 'oh God if they have this what else do they have?' look.

"Who is this?" Jane asked.

Grant didn't answer. To her credit she didn't lie. She just didn't offer up an answer. Jane figured she was trying to decide how they knew about Pelton.

"Nancy," Jane pushed. "How do you know this man?"

As expected, the woman scratched the corner of her eye. "I don't."

"This isn't going to get easier as we go along," Jane warned. "Stop lying. Who is this man?"

"David Pelton," she admitted.

"And how do you know him," Jane asked.

"I don't," Grant gave as an answer.

To that, Jane slide the photo of Grant visiting Pelton in prison over to her. "What to try that answer one more time?"

Grant sighed, "I don't really know him know him. He's a part of Walter's life not mine," she said.

"You went all the way up to Cedar Junction to pay Pelton a visit," Jane said. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to tell him to leave Walter alone and to stay out of our lives," Grant answered and didn't hide the anger she felt towards Pelton.

"What is his connection to Walter?" Jane asked.

"I honestly don't know," Grant answered. "Walter never really explained it to me. He only ever told me that the man was the closest thing to family he had."

"You said you wanted Pelton to leave Walter alone. What exactly was he doing to Walter?" Jane asked.

"That's another thing I don't know. But after every visit, and Walter saw him every month, he would come home just a little quieter. A little more withdrawn. He wouldn't tell me what it was or what was wrong. But the more he visited that man the more he changed.

"I went up there once. I wanted to know. To know who he really was to Walter. To figure out why the visits affected him so much. I didn't get anything more than creeped out by Pelton. There's something really wrong with him."

"Do you know why Pelton is in prison?" Jane asked curious what she did or didn't know.

"Walter told me it had something to do with financial scams and embezzling money," Grant said.

Jane had watched her body language and Grant believed what she was saying. Clearly the woman didn't understand the prison system as Cedar Junction was a maximum security prison. "David Pelton is serving multiple life sentences for first degree murder," Jane told the woman seated across from her.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Grant. Clearly that was the first time she had ever heard that.

"Pelton killed two woman ten years ago," Jane told her.

"Oh God," Grant exclaimed again. "That can't be what Walter was working on," she uttered more to herself than to Jane.

"Working on what?" Jane asked wanting to pursue this line of questioning further.

Grant didn't say anything. If anything she suddenly straightened up and almost appeared resolved not to say another word. Jane knew she was close to having the woman just stop talking. But she thought she knew how to break that new bit of resistance.

She pulled out two pictures of Allyson Montgomery. The first one was a photo they had received from Valerie Montgomery. It was a photo of a beautiful 23 year old with a sincere smile. Grant looked at the photo but didn't say anything. Jane then put one of the crime scene photos of Allyson in front of her.

"23 years old and she's dead. 23 years old and Walter killed her," Jane said as Grant's eyes were glued onto the photos of Allyson. "I'm done playing games with you. Your ex-boyfriend has gotten you into some very serious shit and we are going to talk about everything you know." With that Jane pulled out the photo of Grant picking up Stills in the parking garage on the previous Saturday.

"We are going to talk about everything you've been reluctant to tell me. We are going to talk about everything you don't want to tell me. We are going to talk about it all. 23 years old. And if I can't find him in time there will be another victim."

Jane sat and waited patiently as Nancy stared at the photos of Allyson, Pelton, Stills and herself. Sometimes silence was Jane's best weapon. Silence can weigh on a person. Especially a person with a lot to tell. Sometimes, just the right amount of silence is all it takes to finally get what you want.

It took twelve minutes. But after twelve minutes of silence Grant finally lifted up her head and looked Jane in the eyes. "I'll tell you everything I know."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"_I'll tell you everything I know."_

That was all Jane needed to hear to know she was finally going to make the much needed headway in their case. Given her observations of Grant's behaviors during her time with Frost and Korsak, Jane was fairly certain she wasn't with Stills when he kidnapped and presumably murdered Allyson. But she was just as certain that Grant knew a lot more about what had happened than she had been willing to share up until that point.

"Let's start at the beginning," Jane said and watched a now somewhat defeated Grant just nod her head. "How long have you known Walter?"

It was an easy question to answer. Jane knew Grant was somewhat reluctant to want to share potentially harmful information so it was better to get her into a rhythm of answering questions truthfully before touching on subjects that might make her incriminate herself. She could still be involved in Allyson's kidnapping or in the planning of what happened for all Jane knew.

"We met three years ago," Grant said. "At the time we both worked in the same building and always seemed to ride the elevator together. Eventually we started talking and then we started dating."

Jane got the details from Grant on where both she and Stills were working three years ago. She knew Frost and Korsak were listening in on the conversation and Frost would start searching for employment records for the business Stills worked. They still really needed to identify who he actually was.

"What does Walter do right now?" asked Jane.

"He's a consultant," Grant replied. "A financial consultant."

"Where does he work?"

"He has his own company," Grant said.

Jane was skeptical. Not of Grant's answer as she felt it was the truth. But Jane was skeptical that Stills actually owned his own consulting company. It would most likely turn out to be a lie. "Does he maintain an office somewhere in the city?" Jane hoped that the answer would be yes as that would give them another place to look for Stills.

Grant nodded. "He leases some office space in a building downtown. In a building off State Street."

That piqued Jane's interest. Allyson worked in an office building on State Street. "Do you remember which building?"

"The Hartford Building," Grant answered. He has office space on the 8th floor."

Jane had their first possible link between Allyson and Stills. Allyson worked in the Hartford Building on the 11th floor. She glanced over to the two way mirror as a silent indication to the guys that they needed to follow-up on Stills possible office space in that building.

Jane then asked several questions about Grant and Stills' relationship. She asked for a basic history from Grant. She was interested but the questioning was more of an attempt to let Grant talk for a while about a non-threatening subject. It was meant to help relax Grant and get her comfortable with Jane before Jane asked her harder questions.

"When did you first hear about Pelton?" Jane asked after letting Grant talk about her life with Stills for about 15 minutes.

"About six months into our relationship," Grant answered. "Walter would disappear for a Saturday each month and I finally asked him where he went. He told me he went to visit a man he considered to be family in prison."

"Did he ever explain what their relationship was?" Jane asked.

Grant shook her head. "Not really. Walter didn't like to talk about his past or his family much. I got the impression he was maybe an orphan. The closest to an answer I ever got was he said Pelton helped to look after him when he was younger. I just assumed he was a guardian of some sort."

"What did Walter tell you was the reason Pelton was in prison?" Jane asked. Grant had said it as for financial crimes but she wondered if there was more detail.

"He said Pelton was a successful businessman but had gotten involved in a Ponzi scheme I think he called it," Grant answered. "He said Pelton ended up in prison because he had embezzled money from several businesses."

"Did Walter ever say what those businesses were?" Jane asked.

Grant shook her head. "No," she admitted. "I just assumed it was some kind of investment scam."

"Why did you assume that?"

"Because Walter said Pelton's money all came from investment banking," Grant answered. Jane made a note to have Frost continue to follow-up on Pelton's estate and the source of his money.

"Walter's visits to Pelton were very regular until about six months ago. What happened?" Jane wondered why the contact seemed to stop if Stills had visited Pelton monthly for years.

"Me," Grant admitted.

"What do you mean?" Jane wanted clarification.

"I upset Pelton with my visit," Grant admitted. "Walter had started to," and she paused trying to find the right way to phrase her answer, "change about a year ago. He was quiet. Withdrawn. I couldn't get him to tell me what was wrong. At one point I ever thought he might be having an affair.

"I started to notice his mood was worse when he would come back from visits with Pelton. I would ask him why if it was upsetting him did he keep going and all he would ever tell me is that he owed Pelton everything and he couldn't stop seeing him.

"Walter's behavior became so erratic I wanted some answers. In my mind either Pelton was the source of Walter's trouble or he knew what was going on. So I thought maybe I could get him to tell me."

"Did Pelton give you any insight?" Jane asked.

"No. He told me that I should mind my own business and that his business with Walter was none of my concern," Grant said. "Then he managed to completely creep me out."

"How?" asked Jane.

"He just sat there and stared at me," Grant said. Jane could see her shudder just remembering the interaction. "It wasn't like he was looking at me it was more like he was looking through me. He told me something about my eyes that I didn't understand and then he got up and left."

Jane thought about the note Pelton wrote to Stills about the eyes being the 'gatekeeper' to the soul. It wasn't an expression she understood. "Do you remember what he said?"

Without even having to think about it, Grant answered. "He said that there was a darkness that overshadowed my eyes and it made my soul impure. That such impurities would keep Walter from ever truly committing to me."

That didn't exactly help Jane understand Pelton's apparent obsession with eyes but at this point she considered any reference he made about eyes would be a circumstantial link to her current case.

"After your visit to Pelton, what happened?" Stills had seen Pelton the very next day and it would be the last visit he had with the prisoner.

"Walter went to visit Pelton the next day. It was his normal visit schedule," Grant explained. "Apparently Pelton told him that I was there the day before and Pelton was quite upset. From what Walter told me Pelton claimed that Walter was no longer worthy of his time or attention and he would no longer see him anymore."

"How did Walter react?" Jane asked.

"He was distraught," Grant said. "At first he was furious with me. Blamed me for screwing everything up and kept telling me I had no idea what it was that I had done. He almost broke up with me over it. We hardly spoke for almost a month but then one day he seemed alright. He said he knew what he needed to do to get Pelton back."

That sounded promising to Jane almost sounding like a possible motive. "And did he tell you what it was he needed to do?"

Grant shook her head, "Not exactly." Jane had watched her body language as she asked that question and she did not appear to be lying. Jane was, however, disappointed as she was still trying to figure out what made Stills kill Allyson. "All I know is he would refer to it as finishing what Pelton started. He kept saying he just needed to finish the job. I assumed he meant something with investments or money."

Or murder, Jane thought to herself. Maybe she did find a motive after all. Maybe Stills thought he could get back into Pelton's good graces if he carried out killings Pelton had been denied when he was caught ten years ago.

R&I

"When was the last time you saw Walter?" Jane asked. Earlier Grant had said she hadn't seen Stills since last Sunday morning. Since Grant appeared to be a lot more open and honest than during the initial questioning Jane wanted to get a truthful answer from her.

"Last Sunday morning," Grant answered. "He was in a weird mood all of Saturday and we ended up fighting Saturday night. I was so mad at him I made him sleep on the couch. Sunday morning I thought maybe he would apologize for being so short tempered but all we did was fight again and then he stormed out. He left around 10 am."

"Did you try to contact him? Maybe at his place?" Jane asked.

"We live together," Grant said.

Jane hadn't up to that point asked any questions about Stills living situation. Hearing what Grant said made Jane realize something. "You two live together?" she asked again to be sure.

"Yes," Grant answered. "We've lived together for almost two years."

Jane moved to stand up. Looking at Grant she spoke. "Excuse me for one moment," and without really giving Grant a chance to respond Jane stepped out of the interview room. She was met in the hallway by both Frost and Korsak. Clearly they had the same thought.

"I'll call for the search warrant," Korsak said.

Jane smiled. They were all on the same page. "Her house. Her car. The entire property," Jane said.

"I'll get a CSRU team pulled together," Frost said. It was Sunday but he doubted Cavanaugh would care. They finally had a residence for their Walter Stills and they were going to search it top to bottom. If Stills lived with Grant there would be latent prints if not DNA in that house. Something they could run through CODIS or AFIS to find the true identity of Walter Stills.

"Jane," Korsak said, "This will go faster if she gives us permission to search her car and the home."

Jane stopped to consider it. She shook her head. "I am not sure it's a good idea to ask that right now. I have a feeling she may clam up if I ask her permission to search her home, We are finally getting somewhere but there is a lot I still need to ask her and if she knows we are actively searching her home I think I'm going to lose her cooperation."

Korsak nodded. "I'll call Judge Samuelson and secure the warrants." Samuelson was probably the best judge to reach off hours to get search warrants approved.

Jane nodded and turned to Frost. "Also, we need to follow-up on office spaces at the Hartford Building."

"I heard that," Frost said. "Do you think that's where Stills met Allyson?"

"I'm not sure but I doubt it is a coincidence that he went after someone who works in the same building he supposedly rents office space." Jane didn't believe in coincidences.

"We can follow-up with the leasing manager tomorrow morning," Frost said.

Jane knew he was right. For tonight, they needed to concentrate on searching Grant and Stills' home. The office building could wait until the next day. "Ask for Hahn," she said. Hahn was their best CSRU tech and Jane wanted the best to go through the home for those latent prints. Frost nodded and pulled out his phone to start getting the CSRU team ready. Jane went back to continue her interview with Grant.

R&I

Jane reenters the room and sits back down. If Grant wondered what made Jane leave the room she didn't ask. Instead she sat there apparently waiting for Jane to ask her more questions.

"So, Sunday morning at 10 am was the last time you saw Walter?" Jane asked picking up where she had left off.

Grant nodded. "We got into a fight that morning and he left."

"What was the fight about?" Jane asked.

"His behavior," Grant said. "I wanted him to apologize to me for how he acted the night before and he refused. That sparked the fight and he just left."

"Let's talk about Saturday night," Jane said. She pushed the photo of Stills getting into Grant's car at the parking garage towards her. "Tell me about this."

Grant looked at the photo and then back up at Jane. "That's me picking him up from a parking garage downtown," she said. She looked at Jane as if Jane was going to explain why or how they had the photo but Jane wasn't going to say anything. After a few moments Grant realized Jane wasn't going to offer up any information.

"Walter called me and told me that his car wouldn't start and he needed to be picked up from the parking garage. I picked him up and offered to wait with him while he called for a tow truck but he insisted that he would just deal with the car on Sunday."

"Do you know where the Malibu is right now?" Jane asked.

Grant shook her head, "No, but I would assume the car is wherever Walter is right now."

Jane was about to ask another question when Grant seemed to think of something.

"Although the car may be in his storage unit," Grant offered up. "He will keep it parked there sometimes."

Jane looked up at Grant. "He rents a storage unit?" If this was true and Grant knew where the unit was this could be as big of a break as potentially find Stills' fingerprints or DNA.

"Yeah," Grant replied. 'He's had it since he moved in with me. It's a pretty large unit and it will fit his car. He parks his car there in the winter sometimes to keep from having to deal with alternate street parking."

"Do you know where this storage unit is?" Jane asked. They needed to find it and get a search warrant for it as well.

Grant nodded, "It's at a place called Planet Self storage."

Jane knew where that was. "Do you know which unit Walter rents?"

Grant shook her head, "I'm not sure."

Jane needed to excuse herself again to let Frost know they also needed to be looking for a storage unit.

"Frost," Jane said as she caught up to both her partners.

"Jane," Korsak looked up from the phone, "Samuelson is reviewing the fax of our request right now. We should have a search warrant for Grant's home shortly."

Jane nodded. "Grant says Stills has a storage unit and sometimes keeps his Malibu there." That got both Frost and Korsak's attention.

"Does she know which storage facility?" Frost asked.

"Planet self-storage," Jane answered. "But she doesn't know the unit number."

"We can probably get a manifest from them tomorrow," Frost said. He was pretty sure that no one would be available to help them on a Sunday and without an exact unit number they wouldn't be able to get the storage unit added to the search warrant Korsak was securing.

"We got it," Korsak said. "Search warrant is signed."

Jane nodded. "Head out there," she said. They really needed to find prints inside Grant's home. "And keep me posted."

R&I

As Jane re-enters the interview room she asks, "So, why don't you tell me the real reason you haven't seen Walter since Sunday morning?"

Jane was pretty sure she knew the answer to this but she was going to let Grant tell her. She believed Grant when she said she hadn't seen Walter since last Sunday but Grant's attempt to put it off on a fight they had last Sunday morning was not too convincing. Jane was actually of the belief that Grant was hiding from Stills. She was pretty sure that's why Grant was so scared earlier. She didn't think it was because she had done anything but because she knew Stills may have.

"I don't….I mean he left Sunday morning and," Grant started.

"I get all of that. But the man you live with disappears for a week and you don't act worried about him or try to find out where he is? You haven't once asked why we can't find him. You didn't even seem to be too surprised when I showed you photos of a dead 23 year old. I tell you that the man you are supposed to love is a killer and you don't argue with me about that.

"You are scared. Not scared of being questioned by me. You are scared that Walter will find out you are here. And I don't think that's because you don't want him to know we are talking to you. I think you just don't want him to know where you are at. We pulled you over on the opposite side of the city from where you live. That's because you haven't been home in a while isn't it?"

Jane was playing a hunch but she didn't think she was wrong.

Grant's eyes teared up and she sniffled. Jane knew immediately that she was right. Something about Stills behavior either Saturday or Sunday had spooked Grant. Now Jane just needed to get her to say what it was.

"Nancy," Jane said softly. "He's not here. He can't hurt you. But he is capable of hurting people and it's my job to stop him before he can hurt anyone else. In order for me to do my job, in order for me to protect you and the next person that Walter sets his sights on, I'm going to have to know everything. So please, tell me why you've been hiding from your boyfriend all week."

Grant didn't answer and Jane just sat there in silence. She knew this was another critical point in the interview. Grant knew something. She was genuinely surprised to hear that Pelton was in prison for murder but when Jane showed her the photos of Allyson and called Stills a killer Grant seemed to have already considered this as a possibility. Whatever Grant knew this was the final hurdle Jane needed to clear in order to get the full truth from her.

So she sat and waited. They weren't moving on until Jane had an answer to her question. And she was prepared to sit there in silence all night if she had to.

It wouldn't take all night but it did take about 10 more minutes. Finally Grant gave in and decided to tell the detective. Or more to the point show the detective. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She kept in held tightly in her hand almost as if she was still debating letting Jane see it.

"I found this Sunday night when I was doing laundry," she said in a small voice. "I really didn't know what it meant but when I saw the news report about this girl," she said as her eyes drifted to the picture of Allyson, "I got scared. I got so scared I left the house and haven't been back home since."

Jane waited patiently for Grant to hand her the piece of paper. She knew she would get the chance to see it as soon as Grant had pulled it from her pocket. She was now willing to let Grant hand it over to her once she was ready.

And then Grant passed the folded sheet across to Jane. Jane unfolded it to see what it said.

_1- Switch plates on the car. Best if you keep actual plates in trunk_

_2- Leave car only a day before- any longer it may get reported and any shorter they may view camera footage if they have it_

_3- Use the prepaid credit card you were given and nothing else_

_4- Don't bring your cellphone. It will ping off towers and they can track where you have been_

_5- Remember what we discussed about contact after and follow that without exception_

Jane read through the list a couple of more times and then looked up at Grant. "Is this Walter's handwriting?"

Grant shook her head, "No, it's not. But I know whose it is."

"Who?" Jane asked. It was clear that if Stills didn't write this 'to-do' list it was written potentially for him by someone else. Perhaps this was written by Pelton although Jane was certain the prison would have flagged this as 'suspicious' content. But then again it was prison and there were ways of getting messages out through unofficial channels.

"Him," Grant said and she pushed a few photos aside that Jane had left on the table. She picked up the photo of the lawyer Peter Manning and handed it to Jane. "It's Peter's handwriting."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Jane sat at her desk and released a heavy sigh. It had turned into an extremely long but productive day for them. Frost and Korsak were on their way back from supervising the CSRU techs at Grant's home and Jane had just finished with her interview with Grant. Both exertions seemed to provide valuable information.

Jane had received an update from Korsak stating that the CSRU techs had been able to recover numerous viable latent prints inside the home. Both he and Frost were confident that they had usable prints to run through AFIS in their attempt to identify Walter Stills. Techs had been able to pull prints from a dresser and closet that held men's clothing as well as finding prints in all the rooms in the house.

They had also recovered a hairbrush they believed had hair samples as well as a toothbrush that could be run through CODIS for possible DNA identification. Given what the techs were able to secure it seemed likely that the team would know the true identity of Stills by morning.

According to Frost, they didn't find anything in the home that would indicate where Stills currently was located. There appeared to be some personal belongs and clothing missing but they couldn't be sure of it. They also did not find any rope they could link to Allyson's murder or anything that would closely resemble the knife Maura believed was used to cut out Allyson's eyes.

But when it came to eyes, while they didn't find Allyson's eyes anywhere, they did find what they could hold as circumstantial evidence. While searching the bedroom closet that appeared to belong to Stills, Korsak found a box full of photos of eyes. Some were actual photographs but most appeared to be cut out of magazines or newspapers. Some appeared to be printed from the Internet. No faces. Just eyes. The photos were from different races, different sexes and even different ages. It had been one of the stranger things the guys had ever come across during a home search.

As for Jane's time with Grant, that was always extremely productive. Aside from the information about Stills living in her home and their chance to get prints or DNA, Grant was able to provide Jane with substantial information in regards to Stills' probable role in Allyson's murder. Grant was able to place Stills in the same building that Allyson worked. She let them know that Stills rented a storage unit that Jane was sure they could identify by morning and get the appropriate warrants to search.

But she also helped with starting to understand the possible motive behind Allyson's murder. According to Grant, Stills had fallen out of favor with Pelton six months ago and was desperate to get back in good graces with the prisoner. There now existed the distinct possibility that Stills may have murdered Allyson on the tenth anniversary of Pelton's first murder as an attempt to win favor with Pelton again. Potentially as a way to prove himself to Pelton by carrying out what he had started and was unable to finish ten years ago.

But even beyond that, Grant had been able to produce evidence that there was another person involved in at a minimum the planning of a murder and potentially even in its execution. As Jane looked down at the 'to-do' list that was now sealed in an evidence bag she was aware that the listed items were a checklist of things Stills was to do before and after kidnapping Allyson. The fact that the list was not in Stills' handwriting had added a second person to the investigation.

According to Grant, the list was written by the estate lawyer Peter Manning. The same lawyer who made regular visits to Pelton and appeared to be in charge of Pelton's estate. The fact that he may have written down the instructions for Stills now possibly tied him into murder or a conspiracy to commit murder.

With the addition of Manning as a potential suspect that meant a change of plans for the team for Monday. Before Grant's revelation that Manning had written the 'to-do' list Jane had planned on stopping by Manning's office in the morning to see what, if anything, the estate lawyer could tell them about Pelton and his estate. Given attorney-client privilege Jane assumed they wouldn't get too much from Manning but she had hoped he might be able to identify Stills and what his relationship to Pelton had been.

Clearly, with Manning now looking like at least a co-conspirator, they would have to re-think their strategy with Manning. Jane was no longer willing to informally speak with Manning. Instead, she wanted to work with Frost on tracing Pelton's money and estate funds and look into Manning more before letting him become aware that they had linked him to Pelton or Stills.

She was hoping that by early morning they would have the actual identity of Stills from an AFIS or CODIS hit. That would help them immensely. If Frost could get a real identity on Stills he would be able to potentially track financials, crime history, cell phone records and perhaps find a way to connect Stills to Manning.

According to Grant, Manning was Stills' lawyer and business partner. She had said Stills owned an investment consulting business. Stills was supposed to handle the money and investment advice for the clients and Manning handled the contracts and legal aspects of the business. Grant said she had met Manning on several occasions and found him to be a pleasant individual and it was always her impression that Manning was the 'brains' behind the consulting business Stills ran. Grant had said the Manning seemed to be the one that took care of the details of the business and Stills mainly handled the customer interactions. If they could figure out the real connection between Manning, Stills and Pelton Jane was certain they could solve who actually killed Allyson, why and also prevent a potential second murder.

As Jane stifled a yawn she looked at the time. It was 10:30 but for her it felt much later. The interview of Grant had worn her out. Grant had been released with the understanding that she was still a person of interest in the ongoing investigation of Allyson Montgomery's murder. They just didn't have enough against Grant to hold her on any specific charge. She was sure Grant would end up striking a deal with the State's Attorney for her testimony as it was. Grant was advised against discussing the case with anyone. To do so would mean facing an obstruction charge. She agreed to inform Jane if she had any contact with Stills but said she was going back to hiding from him until he was in custody.

There wasn't anything more Jane could do until morning but she was waiting for Frost and Korsak to return. She needed to get them in the loop about the 'to-do' list and its tie to Manning. After that, she was going to head home to get a little bit of sleep knowing that tomorrow was going to be just as long of a day as today had turned into.

The CSRU evidence would be available on Stills. Financial information would be available on Pelton and Grant. Even Andrew Jennings was set to be there in the morning. As much as Jane still did not want to have anything to do with the man, she was hopeful that he possessed some piece of information that would help them understand the connection between Pelton and Stills. Maybe even Manning now that his role in the whole thing seemed to be larger than originally believed.

Yes, Monday was going to be a very long day indeed.

R&I

In the midst of her running down everything that they would need to handle in the morning, Jane had another thought occur to her. A non-work related thought and one that while she welcomed it she was a bit surprised by the strength of it. She was tired and ready to go home but her first real thought about 'home' was that she didn't want to go to her apartment. She wanted to end up at the Beacon Hill home that housed the woman that now occupied her free thoughts. All she knew for sure was that she really wanted to see the ME and she really didn't want to end up alone in her apartment.

Thinking this she lightly chuckled to herself. She wasn't even quite sure how the two of them had ended up where they were in that moment but somehow very quickly Jane was reluctant to spend time away from Maura. They were just starting to try to figure out how what they felt for each other would change their relationship but somehow she knew she wasn't going to like sleeping away from the ME. It had only been a day. But the thought of going back to her apartment didn't appeal to the detective. She wanted to be where the ME was. Even if it was just to sleep, she wanted to wake up with Maura instead of waking up alone.

Jane was pulled out her thoughts about Maura by the buzzing of her phone of an incoming text.

_How is it going? –M_

Just seeing the text from Maura made Jane smile. And the smile made Jane realize that she was really starting to get in pretty deep_._ Between the strong desire to end up at Maura's place that night and just how happy she was for the chance to even 'chat' with the ME, Jane was quickly becoming aware of just how much the woman meant to her. She had always cherished their friendship. But things were changing and as Jane looked at the text message from Maura she was really starting to see just how much and how quickly those changes seemed to be happening.

_I've finished with Grant for the night. Frost and Korsak are returning to the station and then I'll be able to call it a night. –J_

As she typed out her answer and hit send, she was struck by another observation. Just as she was certain she already preferred to spend her time with Maura as opposed to without her, she was certain that she felt comfortable with that kind of change. She found it a little funny that two days into their decision to 'explore' their changing relationship she seemed to already hate the notion of sleeping alone but she wasn't bothered by the fact that she seemed to have a need to have Maura in her life.

_Come here. –M_

Jane stared at the message Maura had sent. It was only two words but in that moment they seemed like the greatest two words in the English language. Could Maura be thinking the same thing as she had been? Could Maura have realized that she, too, didn't seem to want to fall asleep alone?

_No matter what time. Come here tonight. –M_

Maura's follow-up message seemed to answer Jane's unasked questions. It would appear that the ME wanted the same thing she did.

_I have my key. I will let myself in. It'll be after midnight. –J_

At this point she knew she probably wouldn't be able to get to Maura's before midnight and she didn't want the woman to feel like she had to wait up for her. She could let herself in and just join Maura in bed. Again, a goofy grin spread across Jane's face when she realized that she now got to sleep with Maura. Not just share space on a bed like they had for years but really, truly sleep with the ME.

She would get to climb into Maura's bed and sleep with her.

With Maura.

On purpose.

Because it was what they both wanted.

As Jane thought about this her heart started to race. Not even two days into this, whatever it was going to be, and she knew she was already in trouble.

_I don't care when you get here just make sure I get to wake up with you. –M_

Oh yeah, she was in trouble but it was going to be a really good kind of trouble.

_There is no other place I would rather be. –J_

R&I

Korsak and Frost entered the bullpen and found Jane grinning while looking down at her phone. They both looked at each other and raised an eyebrow but neither said out loud what they were both thinking.

Maura.

"Jane," Korsak spoke to pull Jane back into reality.

Jane's head snapped up hearing her name being called. "Hey," she said as her partners pulled out their desk chairs and sat down.

"Hahn promised all the latent prints will be ready for AFIS analysis within the next two hours. She is personally going to handle the print transfers," Frost said.

"Once the prints are transferred she will run them through AFIS and have any hits forwarded to us," Korsak confirmed. "We think we will know Stills identity by morning. They are turning the hair and the toothbrush over to the crime lab and are requesting a rush on processing. That will take a little longer than AFIS but I still want to run it just in case the prints don't produce a hit."

They were at a standstill again with labs but this time everyone seemed confident that they would finally be getting the answer they needed. At least to the question of who exactly Walter Stills really was. Jane recapped the rest of her interview with Grant for the guys. She showed them the 'to-do' list and that Grant identified Manning as the author of it.

"That changes our interest in Manning," Frost said.

"Yes it does," Jane agreed. "We aren't making that trip to his office in the morning. At least not yet. I want more information on Manning and his possible connection with Stills before we try to talk with him."

The partners all agreed and spent a few minutes discussing strategy for the morning. Korsak was still going to handle talking with Jennings. Frost would hopefully have Stills' actual identity to start running queries and financials. Jane agreed to follow-up on the possibility that Stills had office space in the Hartford Building as well as trying to get an idea of what storage unit Stills actually rented from Plant Self storage so they could get a search warrant for the unit.

It looked like they had their morning all planned out so they all decided to call it a night. Jane went down to her car happy to be driving towards Beacon Hill.

R&I

She made the drive to Maura's as quickly as she could. By now she was pretty sure that Maura would have gone to sleep already but she still felt the need not waste time she could otherwise be with Maura in her car. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to be able to crawl into bed and snuggle in close to the ME.

Once she arrived at the house she looked and saw that most of the lights were turned out. The kitchen light was still on, presumably for Jane, but otherwise the house appeared to be quiet. Jane let herself into the side door and punched in her code to deactivate Maura's alarm. She locked the door and reset the alarm proud that Maura had finally gotten into the habit of using the security system Jane had insisted she install.

She waited for a few moments to see if Jo would react to her coming in but gave up on that notion when the dog failed to greet her. She headed instead into the living room to make her way upstairs when she found where her dog was and why she wasn't being greeted. Jane found Jo curled up into Bass who also seemed to be sound asleep. The scene of the two pets cuddled together was so cute Jane had to work to stifle the giggle that was forming. She didn't want to disturb them so she quietly moved past them and made her way up the stairs.

Jane's first stop was the guest room and guest bathroom. The clothes she kept over at Maura's were kept in the guest room including her pajamas. She also kept a supply of toiletries in the guest bathroom and figured she could get ready for bed without running the risk of waking up Maura. She changed into a t-shirt and shorts and after washing up her quietly made her way towards the master bedroom.

Maura had left the light on in the en suite so Jane had plenty of light to move around without disturbing or tripping over anything. As she approached the bed the sight her eyes found simply took her breath away. Maura was resting peacefully on her side of the bed. The woman was just absolutely gorgeous. Makeup removed. Hair spread loosely across her pillow. The woman looked like an angel. Her angel. Jane knew in that moment that the sight in front of her and the fact that she now got to be the one that got to see it was something she would cherish for the rest of her life.

She slowly pulled back the covers and slipped into bed. She was trying her best not to wake the ME as much as she sort of wanted to talk to the woman. Maura needed to rest and Jane knew they would be able to talk in the morning. So instead, she carefully maneuvered herself into the position she had wanted to find herself in all night. She snuggled right up against Maura and gently pulled the woman into her arms. It occurred to her that Maura fit around and into her perfectly.

She let herself take in the scent of Maura. Sweet. Calming. Home. As she finished getting herself settled around the sleeping beauty content to slip into a peaceful sleep, Maura turned into her and smiled.

"Hi," she said just above a whisper. The smile on the ME's face was enough to melt Jane's heart.

"Hi," Jane replied and returned the smile.

They both let themselves get resettled into each other after Maura had shifted. Jane seemed to get a better hold of Maura in their new position and that suited her just fine. Neither said anything for a few moments. It wasn't from a lack of things to say. They were just enjoying the sensation of having the other in her arms.

"I'm sorry I left you alone with Ma tonight," Jane spoke softly. She had watched her mother fight herself not to pounce on the ME all afternoon. She also knew it had so unnerved Maura that she had resorted to hiding out in the family room. She really did feel bad about leaving Maura alone.

Maura chuckled. "Whatever you said to her," she answered, "it worked. She held off asking any questions but I think it took a lot out of her. She didn't stick around after dinner was finished. I don't think she trusted herself around me."

Jane chuckled as well. "She figured out our relationship is changing," Jane said. "I'm not exactly sure what gave it away but I think it was the rose."

Maura smiled. "I warned you that she was just going to know. She swears mothers just know things sometimes." Maura appreciated Angela's mothering style. It wasn't anything she had ever had the chance to experience with her own mother. Granted this was one of the first times she seemed to be at the center of the storm that could be Angela Rizzoli but there was absolutely no denying the love she felt for her children and Maura realized just how lucky she was to be considered one of them.

"I asked her to give us a little time and space to get our feet underneath us with all of this," Jane said. "It's not what she wants but she knows we probably need it so she will leave you alone for a couple more days. Just be warned that at some point the dam will break and she will flood over you."

Maura giggled getting an image was what probably in her not so distant future. "She cares about us both and I think she really wants this to work out for us."

Jane leaned down and captured Maura's lips. It was a sweet, gentle kiss but it was full of the affection she felt for the woman now in her arms. They both let themselves get lost in the kiss neither in any rush to let it end. Even though all of this was so very new for them both it felt so very right.

Maura released a contented sigh as the kiss came to a natural end. Looking up at Jane she smiled. "I think I'm in trouble," she said.

"With Ma?" Jane asked suddenly not sure if she missed some part of a conversation.

"No," she said. "Not with your mother. I think I'm in trouble with us." Jane looked at her and was completely confused. Before she could panic about something being wrong Maura went on to explain. "We've just started this but I'm already getting swept off my feet. I spent all night tonight worried that you were going to go to your apartment and that I wasn't going to see you. I didn't like that option. I wanted you here."

Jane smiled as she knew exactly how Maura felt. "If it helps," she said. "I felt the same. I was sitting at my desk and the idea of going home to my apartment was the very last thing I wanted to do. I just wanted to be with you."

Maura smiled. She was happy Jane seemed to feel the same way as her. She had spent about an hour debating with herself over sending the text message asking Jane to come over. She wanted to see the detective. She wanted the detective in her bed. She just wasn't completely sure if she should feel that strongly this early into their relationship. Knowing Jane was thinking the same thoughts put her mind at ease.

Maura pulled herself into Jane and kissed her. This time the kiss was strong and full of passion. She continued to marvel at the way her body responded to the touch of Jane's lips. She had never felt a kiss throughout her entire body until she shared a kiss with Jane. Her heart raced. Her skin flushed. It was as if Jane's lips sparked something within her very core. She felt alive and she was loving every second of it.

It was Maura who gently, almost patiently, let her tongue brush across Jane's lower lip. The kisses they had shared to that point seemed to grow in intensity and while Jane had been the first to introduce a bit of tongue action it seemed to be Maura's turn to explore. Jane immediately granted the ME access and from the slight moan Maura's action produced it was clear that Jane didn't mind the invasion whatsoever.

Maura took her time in her efforts to explore Jane's mouth. She wanted to enjoy each new sensation for as long as she could. She quickly found the feel of her tongue caressing Jane's to be something she could get very used to. It was different with Jane. There wasn't this overwhelming need to dual for dominance or a battle for total control. Instead, there just seemed to be an understanding that the pleasure from this kind of kiss was meant to be mutual and both seemed willing to be equal participants in the endeavor.

Maura could have carried on with kissing Jane that deeply all night had it not been for her brain subtly having to remind her that oxygen and breathing wasn't really an optional concept but rather a necessity. She quietly cursed at the physiological need no matter how basic and finally relented pulling back to give herself a chance to intake the needed oxygen.

"Wow," Jane muttered as she too seemed to have a need for air. She would have said something a bit more clever but for the moment her brain didn't seem to be working.

"Yeah," Maura uttered as she too seemed to be reduced to one syllable phrases.

Once the need for air was met Jane wasted no time resuming what Maura had started. Only this time Jane wanted to explore new territory. So instead of recapturing the doctor's lips Jane slowly started to work her way across Maura's jawline. If possible, Maura's skin tasted better to Jane than that of her lips. There was also a softness to Maura's skin she wasn't quite expecting.

She worked her lips across Maura's jawline and slowly seemed to map her way around Maura's neck. She tried to split her attention between cataloging Maura's reaction to where her lips traveled as she found certain areas of her neck rewarded Jane's efforts with soft moans from the ME and her own personal gratification that she received as she explored every square inch the skin being offered to her.

She was careful not to mark the ME. That hadn't been her intention when she started her current task. Although she did linger a bit when she got to a particularly sensitive spot just below Maura's earlobe. In that moment Jane wasn't sure what she enjoy more hearing the sounds coming from Maura or knowing that it was her that was causing those sounds. At some point she realized it didn't matter and just let herself enjoy both.

Eventually Jane's exploration came to an end. She pulled away from the ME just enough to shift their positions again so she had Maura snuggled in tightly against her body. Maura complied and burrowed herself in tight against Jane but she also took one of Jane's hands into her own. Looking down at the interlaced fingers Maura had never taken for granted the fact that she was allowed such close contact with Jane's hands when no one else was.

After a few quiet moments Maura spoke. "I'm definitely in trouble."

Jane chuckled and lightly kissed Maura's forehead. "I think we are both in big trouble."

The two settled in for the night and both managed to drift off to sleep. Each fully believing their sleep came because they were able to hold each other tight.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

_March 2005_

"_No," the voice echoed out of the office and down the hallway. It was an emphatic 'no' that left no room for discussion._

"_Be reasonable," came a second voice. Softer and almost pleading with the first voice._

_The voices were coming from inside Lieutenant Rankin's office. The emphatic, authoritative voice belonged to Sergeant Cavanaugh while the calmer, pleading voice was that of Rankin._

"_Reasonable?" Sean responded incredulously, "I've been plenty reasonable. In fact I was more than reasonable a year ago. I can't even believe that you would consider this."_

"_It's been a year," Rankin again tried to get Cavanaugh to at least consider it._

"_So," Sean said. "Is that supposed to mean something to me? More importantly is that supposed to make a difference to her?"_

_Rankin sighed and rubbed his temples with his fingers. All this was unnecessary drama and it was giving him a headache. "I would imagine that this may be a little difficult for her in the beginning," Rankin started only to have Sean cut him off._

"_A little difficult? Jesus Alan!" Now Sean was pissed. "And don't talk to me like this is a done deal. I haven't agreed to this and I will not agree to this. It's wrong."_

"_It's complicated," Rankin tried to again bring reason into the discussion._

"_It's bullshit," replied Sean. "Brass politics and absolutely wrong. My answer is no."_

"_He's gone through the program and he is one year sober," Rankin tried to point out as if that would help make Cavanaugh understand._

"_Good for him," Sean replied. "I hope he stays on the wagon. But that man is not being reinstated into my division Alan. I don't want him here."_

_Sean couldn't even believe he was having to have a conversation with Rankin about bringing Andrew Jennings back onto the force let alone back into Homicide. As far as Sean was concerned Jennings should have been arrested and charged with at a minimum assault and battery. At the time he attacked Jane Sean had wanted him arrested for the attempted murder of a police officer. There were times he still wished he hadn't let Jane talk him out of arresting the man._

_So to have to sit in Rankin's office and be told that Jennings was petitioning to be reinstated back within the Boston police department just pissed the man off. There was no way he was going to sign off on letting Jennings return as if nothing happened. He didn't care if the man had been clean and sober for 50 years. The minute he put one hand on Rizzoli Sean lost all respect for him. And he refused to have someone he didn't respect working for him. _

_He didn't even want to think about what Jane's reaction would be if she found out that the brass was even thinking about a reinstatement. Jane had already done more for Jennings than she should have. She could have filed charges. She could have filed an official compliant with Internal Affairs. But she didn't. She allowed Jennings the chance to clean-up his act. She shouldn't be 'rewarded' for that by having to see a man who attacked her in a drunken rage brought back onto the force simply because he had been sober for a year and some of the higher-ups seemed to have a short memory._

"_Sean," Rankin tried to sound diplomatic, "you may not have much say in the matter. Andrew has a lot of friends within this department. Friends in some pretty high places. They knew what he can do. They care more about his success rate with investigations than they do about one incident. They don't seem to want to hold that against him."_

_Sean shook his head, "Again, this is bullshit. The man should have been arrested for felonious A and B. He should have served time. I don't care who his friends are. He could be best friends with the Superintendent for all I care. This isn't right Alan and you know it._

"_You and I both knew Jane already got screwed over by this department once when she had to let him just leave after what he did. She didn't report him because she knew it would ruin her own damn career. A career may I remind you that is just starting to take shape. She is going to be one hell of a detective for this homicide division one day. Alan, she has it. I happen to believe she will one of the best we've ever had. So I'm certainly not going to stand by and watch her get screwed over a second time by the old boys club that seems to want to welcome one of their own back with open arms._

"_He doesn't deserve to be here. His actions have consequences. He got off light as far as I'm concerned. I hope he never takes another drink as long as he lives but until the day I die, I will never trust or respect that man ever again. If they want him back so bad- tell them the price will be my badge and gun on their desk the very moment they hand him his shield back."_

_Sean meant every word he said. He believed Jane had the potential to one of the best detectives he had ever seen. She did have 'it'. That certain natural ability and instinct that an investigator needed in order to really be successful. That was something that couldn't be taught. A person could learn procedures and mechanics. But you can't learn the subtleties of reading a person or a situation. You can't teach someone how to extract minute and often mundane details and correctly interpret them to give you a clue. You just can't teach someone to see what isn't visible but is there. That took talent. And Jane had it. Sean would take one Jane Rizzoli in his division over ten Andrew Jennings. It wasn't even a close call._

"_Sean," Rankin replied. "Be careful what you put out there. They are meeting tomorrow morning to decide this. They wanted your feedback but you don't have the final say in this matter."_

"_I've told you my feedback," Sean said as he got up and headed for the door. He had said his peace and his mind wouldn't be changed. "And I mean it Alan. I won't stay here if they chose him over her. That's the absolute worst choice they could make."_

_Rankin sighed. He agreed with Cavanaugh but understood a simple reality about backroom politics. Most decisions had nothing to do with what was right or wrong. This was certainly one of those decisions._

_R&I_

"_Rizzoli," Sean called out across the gym. Jane was in the midst of a workout that included her current task of pounding on the heavy bag that hung in front of her. _

_Hearing her name she stopped punching the bag and turned around. "Sergeant?" she called back towards Cavanaugh. She hadn't even really seen the man in about four months so she was surprised that he was standing there calling out to her._

_Sean indicated to her that he wanted her to join him out in the hallway. She grabbed a towel to wipe some of the sweat off and worked to slow her breathing as she headed to see what the homicide sergeant wanted._

_Sean waited out in the hallway for Jane to join him. Once she joined him he started to walk away from the gym. Jane, not sure what it was he wanted, simply followed him. _

"_Jane," he started. He looked around and Jane was immediately curious as to what he needed to cover since it was clear he was concerned about being overheard. "Sorry to pull you out of your workout but there's something I think you should know."_

_Jane had no idea what Sean Cavanaugh could want from her or need to tell her so she just looked at him waiting for him to continue._

"_I was just in a meeting with Rankin," he said. "It appears that Andrew has submitted a request for reinstatement."_

_They had been walking as Sean talked but when Jane heard what he said she stopped dead in her tracks. She didn't know what to say so she said nothing at all. She just continued to stare at Cavanaugh._

"_According to Rankin," Sean started, "they are meeting about this tomorrow. He thinks it's already a done deal." _

_Jane could tell simply from Sean's body language that he was pissed. She assumed he objected to having the reinstatement approved. But Jane understood that Sean was just a sergeant and if those higher up than him wanted to bring Jennings back there wouldn't be much Sean could do about it._

"_Why?" she asked. She didn't mean why he thought it was a done deal. Jane wasn't stupid. She knew how things worked sometimes. She was aware that Jennings' reputation was still strong within the department. Most people seemed to have forgotten there was any controversy surrounding his disappearance. She meant why did he want to come back._

"_I don't know," he admitted. He hadn't bothered to ask those kinds of questions. "Rankin said something about him being sober for a year so I assume he wants to get his life back."_

_Again, Jane didn't know what to think or say. So again she said nothing. She wasn't sure how she felt about this. On the one hand she was glad to hear that Andrew had straightened out his life. She was happy that he was sober. _

_But on the other hand, he had attacked her. For no other reason than he was drunk and she was there. She wasn't sure she wanted to be anywhere around him. He'd come back to homicide if he was reinstated and Jane had been busting her ass in Vice for almost two years trying to earn her way into that division. If Andrew was once again there she wasn't sure if she would want to be there with him._

"_For the record," Sean started but Jane cut him off._

"_I know your opinion," she said. It was clear he didn't want Andrew back. "But this isn't your call, is it?"_

_Sean shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said. And he was. He wouldn't tell her he threatened to quit if they brought Jennings back. Not because he wouldn't but because he didn't want her to feel responsible for what might be his last career move._

_Jane nodded. "Thanks for the warning," she said. He didn't owe her anything. He hadn't needed to come find her to tell her. But he did and Jane would always appreciate him for that._

_Both stood there in silence for a few minutes. Neither seemed to know what to say. Finally Jane broke away._

"_I need to get back to my workout," she said._

_Sean simply nodded. He watched her walk back to the gym and cursed Andrew Jennings under his breath._

_R&I_

"_It's not fair to her," Sean implored. He had been on the phone for twenty minutes talking to the one person he thought could prevent Jennings from getting reinstated. "You said it yourself. She's destined for homicide. It's where she belongs. Are you really going to make her have to work with him after what he tried to do?"_

_As he listened to the man's response he paced around the lower level of his home. He wasn't usually a pacer but this entire situation had him upset. He just couldn't manage to sit still for any length of time._

"_I understand all of that," Sean said and sighed. He got that people remembered Jennings for what he had done for the department and not for what had occurred with Jane. "That doesn't make this right."_

_He hated politics. Hated it. And sadly he knew things would get worse for him as he continued to climb the power structure within the department. There were times like this where he wondered if he should just have decided to stay at a detective rank instead of dealing with the hassles that came with longer titles. His life would certainly be easier if he had._

"_I know," Sean sighed in defeat. He was pretty sure his attempts at preventing the reinstatement were going to fall short. But he had to at least try. "I'll let you go. I appreciate your time. The last thing I will say on this whole subject is this: as far as I am concerned Andrew Jennings was this division's past. Jane Rizzoli is this division's future. It will be a shame to see you all mess that up."_

_With that, Cavanaugh disconnected the line. That was his last call for the night. He had done absolutely everything he could to try to convince people that they were about to choose the wrong side of the fence to land on._

_R&I_

"_One more?" Harris asked the three other's at the table. _

_Jane looked at the time. "I have time for one more," she said. The two other detectives from Vice agreed and Harris wandered off to get one last round for the table. _

_The group had all just finished working a string that resulted in thirty six arrests for solicitation. Not too bad for a three day operation. The four had earned a much needed day off and that was reason enough to celebrate at the Robber._

"_Thirty six arrests in three days," Anderson said. "That has to be the record." The high volume was both good and bad. Good in terms of earning the division recognition for a job well done and a nice blurb of good PR on the evening news. Bad in the sense that they had thirty six case files of paperwork that would have to get completed. In triplicate. _

"_Nope," Clark answered. "Thirty six is good but it's not the best. To beat the best we would have had to use the best. Ain't that right Rizzoli?" _

_Jane gave a half smile. "Those days are over," she pointed out. She had moved up the ranks in Vice and was no longer expected to street walk._

"_You have the record?" Anderson asked with a grin. He wasn't sure which detective held the record for more solicitation arrests in a single operation._

"_I've never kept track," Jane said. She knew the answer but it wasn't because she had looked into it. She just didn't pay attention to things like that. But Harris had told her when she managed to break the record that she had done so._

"_Don't be so modest Rizzoli," Harris said as he returned to the table with everyone's last drink. "You know you so own that record. I doubt anyone will ever come close to breaking it."_

_Jane didn't respond. She really didn't care about such things. She grabbed her beer and took a long, slow drink hoping the guys would move on to something else._

"_So," Anderson asked. "What's the number?" He asked Jane but it was clear relatively quickly that Jane wasn't going to provide the answer so all eyes turned to Harris._

"_Forty seven," Harris finally provided the answer._

"_Holy shit!" Anderson announced._

_All eyes on Jane and she just continued to drink her beer. She just didn't get into bragging about stings or cases or collars like some cops did. She just did her job. The best she could and that was enough for her._

"_I don't even want to think about how long that paperwork took, do I?" Clark asked. _

_To that Jane shook her head. "I'm still trying to block that memory out." She hated paperwork. _

_Everyone snickered at Jane's comment and thankfully the conversation shifted to spring training and the Red Sox. March was such an optimistic time of year for Sox fans and they all were flying high from the team's first World Series win in eight six years. Visions of back to back titles danced through their minds._

_Jane listened mostly to the baseball talk. She had done more listening than talking the entire night and that didn't go unnoticed. Harris leaned over towards Jane and quietly asked, "Hey, are you ok? I was just given you some shit earlier when I told them the arrest stat."_

"_I'm fine," she said. And she was. Mostly. She wouldn't tell Harris, or anyone else for that matter, that she was just a little preoccupied. According to Cavanaugh, the decision to reinstate Jennings should have been made that morning. She was hoping Sean would tell her what they decided. _

"_You sure?" he asked again. "You've been rather quiet all day." He was genuinely concerned about her. He had come to have a great deal of respect for the detective and it wasn't like her to be so quiet._

_Jane nodded. "I'm fine. Thanks though," she said dismissing any further conversation._

"_Alright," he said not really believing her but respecting her space._

_The table conversation continued until the beer had run dry and it was time for everyone to head home. They each had only had 3 beers so no one was in need of a ride home. Jane headed to use the bathroom before starting her drive home so she said her good nights to the guys._

_She was exiting the restroom when she almost ran right over someone. She hadn't been paying attention to where she was walking._

"_Oh God," she said reaching out to make sure the person she had just bumped into didn't fall over. "I'm sorry…." she started to apologize since it had been her fault. But then she realized who it was. "Andrew?"_

_Jennings straightened up and turned his attention to Jane. _

_Instinctively Jane took a step back from the man she hadn't seen in over a year. For a brief moment she could swear she felt a tightness in her throat. She hadn't expected to see him that night and she certainly didn't expect to see him at a bar._

"_Jane," he said acknowledging her. _

_There was something to his tone of voice that made Jane take another step back. She wasn't liking her current predicament. Jennings was in front of her and blocking her path into the bar and she was close to being backed up against a wall. She had a possible out by ducking into the bathroom if she needed it but the realization of the fact that she was mentally trying to plan escape routes unsettled her immediately._

_They stared at each other for a moment and Jane decided she had nothing to say to the man. If he was coming back he was coming back. The department was big enough for the two of them for the time being and she would cross the homicide bridge when and if that opportunity was made available. Hoping he was on his way to use the restroom Jane tried to sidestep him and make her way back into the bar._

_Unfortunately for her Jennings stepped with her and continued to block her way. "Move Andrew," Jane warned. Whatever he wanted she wasn't in the mood. She was ever mindful of his demeanor. There was no way she was going to get sucker punched by him like he did during their last encounter._

"_Or what?" Jennings asked in a cold tone._

"_Or I'll move you," Jane answered just as coldly. She was ready for him and she would fight back if he wanted to try any kind of shit._

_They stared each other down. Neither blinked and it appeared as if neither one was going to give in when finally Jennings stepped aside._

_Jane resisted releasing a sigh of relief. She wasn't going to relax a single muscle until she got away from him without incident._

_Jane started to move past time still mindful of his entire body. When she had just moved past him he spoke. "You really are an ungrateful bitch," he said. His tone was flat and cold._

_She knew she should have just kept walking. But she stopped. She couldn't help it. "Excuse me?" she said. She was in complete disbelief that he had said anything._

"_I said you really are an ungrateful bitch," he said slower and made it a point to emphasize the word 'bitch'._

"_You've got some nerve," she said. How dare he after what he did._

"_I taught you everything I knew. I showed you what it took to be a detective. I gave you your start in this department and you repay that by screwing me over the very first chance you get."_

_Jane had no idea what he was talking about. She did the man a favor a year ago when she didn't file a complaint against him and let him enter rehab._

"_You'd be in prison if it hadn't been for me," Jane pointed out. "I don't know what your damn problem is and frankly I don't care. But I'm telling you right now. Stay the fuck away from me"_

"_You made damn sure of that didn't you?" he said raising his voice just a bit._

_Again, Jane had no idea what the man was talking about. "Good bye Andrew," she said. She was done and had no desire to get into an argument with him._

_Jane started to walk away when she heard him call out. "I know it was you who blocked my reinstatement." _

_That made her stop again. She turned and faced him. She couldn't believe they had denied his request. Cavanaugh had made it sound like it was a sure thing. _

_Neither said anything for a minute. Jane too shocked. Jennings apparently too mad._

"_I can't believe they chose you over me," he said finally breaking the silence. "You can only dream of being as good as me. The only thing you were ever really good at was playing at being a whore. Forty seven, huh?" he asked._

_Immediately Jane realized he had been lurking somewhere in the bar earlier close enough to overhear their table conversation._

"_Little Miss Perfect Jane Rizzoli," he said sarcastically. "Queen of the whores."_

_Jane was furious. She was about to tear into him but at the last second stopped. Not because she couldn't. Not because she was scared. But simply because he didn't matter to her anymore._

"_You did teach me Andrew," Jane conceded. "I've never denied that. But you also once pointed out that there are certain aspects of the job that can't be taught. A person either has it or they don't. I know I have it. You know I have it. It's within me and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. When it's all said and done, we both know I'll be a better detective than you ever was. But more importantly, I'll always be a better person than you."_

_She never gave him a chance to respond. She turned and walked out of the Robber never once looking back._

R&I

It was the combination of feeling soft lips pressing lightly against her own and the tickle of a breath exhaled against her skin that pulled the detective from her slumbered state. Sleep brain slowed her reaction to the first swipe of lips against hers but when she felt the sensation repeat itself a second time her brain functioned just enough to realize it should respond in kind.

The light dusting by the hovering lips quickly began more involved and certainly required concentration to maintain what appeared to be a new but absolutely appreciated replacement for an alarm clock. The kiss she was enjoying in that moment almost made mornings worth it.

Jane released a contented sigh and went to shift hoping to pull the ME into her arms. She hadn't fully committed to being awake yet and had so far refused to open her eyes. Maybe if she was lucky she could convince Maura to lay with her for a few minutes longer. But as she stretched out her arms to locate the doctor she found Maura's space unoccupied.

It took that disappointment to get Jane to open her eyes. To her dismay, not only was the ME not still in her own bed but the woman was fully dressed and not in any pajamas. It was clear she had been awake for some time.

"Good morning," Maua said softly as she pulled away from Jane. She had been leaning over the detective to wake her with a kiss.

"How can it be a good morning when you aren't in here next to me," Jane asked indicating towards the empty side of the bed.

Mura lightly chuckled. "Sorry," she answered. "But I wanted to let you sleep at late as I could." She knew Jane needed to go in relatively early but that she also hadn't even gotten to Maura's until after midnight. Maura knew Jane was going to have a long day so she felt the sleep was needed.

"That doesn't explain why you couldn't have stayed in bed with me," Jane pointed out. She liked waking up to a kiss. Really liked it in fact. But she would have loved waking up with Maura in her arms again even more.

"I wanted to make you breakfast," Maura stated trying to explain why she was out of bed and already dressed for work.

A smile broke out across Jane's face. "You made me breakfast?"

"Numerous studies have shown…." she found herself cut off from finishing her thought by an eager set of lips that seemed to have things other than conversation as an agenda.

"Jaumph, you needmuhn to gummpht up," Maura tried to get out as Jane's lips explored hers. She was pretty sure what she said wasn't really in English but she figured Jane would get what she meant.

Maura pulled away and Jane tried to stop her. "Five minutes," she said and gave Maura an almost irresistible pout.

"You need to get up and get dressed. If you get up now you have time to eat the breakfast I made for you and not inhale the breakfast I made for you." Maura had witnessed Jane scarf down food in a rush and at times she swore the woman never even bothered to chew.

"Five minutes," Jane tried again. It was a harmless, measly five minutes. She felt it was a reasonable request.

Maura just shook her head. "There is no such thing as just 'five minutes' with you." Jane was notorious for stretching out a morning with repetitive requests for five more minutes. And that was before they had even started to explore a physical aspect of their relationship. There was no way Jane would be content with just five minutes of cuddling in bed with the ME. And truth be told, there was no way Maura would be content with just five minutes of that cuddle time either. So she held her ground.

"Up. Shower. Food," she said and again pulled back from the detective she was still hovering over.

Jane pouted. Maura giggled as it was one of the cutest things she had ever seen. Almost cute enough to convince her to go for those five minutes. But she resisted as hard as it was and reiterated the plan. "Up. Shower. Food."

Jane sighed in defeat and started to sit up. She liked her idea better.

Maura placed a gentle kiss on Jane's still pouting lips before departing back downstairs. Begrudgingly, Jane headed for the shower.

R&I

Maura had probably been right. Breakfast was better when she had time to actually chew and digest it. She had come down and joined Maura in the kitchen. As Maura served up the breakfast she had made Jane recapped where they were in the investigation and what she thought would break for them that morning.

"So, you should have a hit from AFIS by the time you get into the office if Stills real prints were ever filed anywhere," Maura said.

"I hope so," Jane said. "I'm sick of chasing a ghost." It was hard to find person who technically didn't exist. "And I have a feeling enough of the pieces will get found if we can figure out who Stills really is and also what the connection between Manning and Stills is." She knew Pelton was the key to that connection.

"When is _he _supposed to be in?" Maura asked. She still wasn't thrilled about Jennings getting anywhere near Jane.

"Korsak said 9 am," Jane answered. She had to admit it was pretty cute seeing the ME suddenly get overly protective of her. "Korsak will handle him," she tried to reassure Maura. She just hoped Jennings would remember something that made it worth even having to deal with him again after so long.

Maura nodded slightly almost not convinced that was going to be good enough. "I'll be right downstairs if you need me," she said. She wondered how many excuses she could come up with throughout the day to justify the number of time she would be heading up to the bullpen to check on Jane.

"I know," Jane said softly. Just as she knew she wouldn't need to go downstairs. She had a feeling Maura was going to spend half her day coming up with reasons to be up in the bullpen so she could check on Jane. That thought gave Jane a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

Jane finished up her breakfast and both ladies headed out to their cars. Given the potential for a break in the case, they both know they needed to drive separately to work. And although it had remained an unspoken topic both seemed to just assume they would be spending tonight together as well.

Jane walked Maura to her car and managed to steal one last kiss before allowing the ME into her vehicle. She then headed for her own. She was about ten minutes from the station when she received a text from Frost.

_AFIS hit! Stills is actually Walter Jacob Phelps. -F_

Jane smiled. Without seeing anything else she knew a big piece of the puzzle had just fallen into place.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"What do we know?" Jane asked as she walked into the BRIC. She thought she was doing good coming in at 7 am but it looked like Frost had been in for a while.

"Walter Jacob Phelps," Frost answered had hit a few button on his computer pulling up a photo of Phelps who most definitely Stills. "He's 31 years old. Been in and out of trouble for most of his life. Juvie record is long. Your usual. B and E, public intox, possession, A and B, larceny, vandalism. The list goes on and on. Did some time on a B and E when he was 19 but gained an early release and hasn't had an arrest since."

"He went straight?" Jane asked a little surprised. Usually kids with long juvie records slip up more than once after becoming an adult.

"He fell off the grid," Frost corrected. "He just seems to disappear. As soon as his parole period ends I lose all record of him."

"That must be when he started to go by Walter Stills," Jane said. She wondered why the identity change but supposed they would figure that out as the scope of their investigation increased. "So, besides his criminal record what's back?"

"Not a whole lot yet," Frost warned. "I struck out with the DMV. Phelps doesn't have a driver's license or any vehicle registered to him. I'm running the financials on him right now but that will take just a little longer."

"First thing we need to do is find him," Jane said. "We have five days before he may kill again if he sticks to Pelton's original killing cycle. After that, we need to connect Phelps to Peter Manning and also figure out what the overall connection to Pelton is."

Jane now had at least an answer to the who. It was nice to know Walter's real identity. Grant had given her a partial why. Phelps appears to have killed Montgomery as a means of getting back into Pelton's good graces.

But she still didn't have Phelps. They needed to figure out where he was hiding. They also didn't understand what connection Phelps had with Pelton and how the estate lawyer Peter Manning fit into the picture. Given the handwritten 'to-do' list Grant had turned over to Jane that was supposedly in Manning's handwriting, Jane needed to seriously consider the idea that Manning was also involved with Allyson's murder.

"Let's focus on financials for right now," Jane said. "We need to find any hotels, motels, leases for condos or homes. Some place Phelps can be connected with and where he might be hiding. Credit cards, bank accounts, all of it."

Frost nodded. "I'm on it," he reassured. He had come into the station even earlier than Jane simply because he wanted to get the queries running. He wanted details by mid-morning.

"We can also figure out which storage unit Phelps rents," Jane said. They would be able to get a search warrant relatively quickly once they knew the exact unit that belonged to Phelps. "There's the office space in the Hartford Building we can search too." They certainly weren't lacking in places to at least start their searches.

Korsak would be in within the next 30 minutes and if Jane knew the man as well as she thought she knew the man he would be bearing coffee and probably doughnuts. That thought sustained her as she took her seat and started to go through the files Frost had pulled on Phelps.

R&I

By the time Korsak entered the BRIC carrying the much anticipated coffee and doughnuts, Jane and Frost had actually made considerable headway. Frost's financial queries were starting to trickle in and they turned out to reveal a lot of useful information. Frost found a bank account for Phelps that he could tie both the storage unit and office space in the Hartford building. Jane had called in search warrant requests for both locations and was starting to coordinate CSRU teams to be able to process both locations.

The current plan was for Jane and Frost to head out into the field to supervise the search warrant executions while Korsak stayed at the station to handle talking with Jennings. Korsak seemed to agree with the plan.

"Head out," he said. "You two can split the sites and see what more we can find on Phelps. I'll stay and talk with Jennings if he even bothers to show up." He wasn't happy about the original postponement and he wasn't exactly sure Jennings would even come in.

Jane stood and grabbed her jacket from the back of the chair. "We need to tie Manning and Phelps to Pelton," Jane said. "Grant had information but too much is still missing. And with that list she says Manning wrote there is a distinct possibility that Manning could have actively participated in Allyson's murder. Just because Phelps kidnapped her and drove away with her doesn't mean he killed her."

That was a possibility. Jane really didn't believe it. From the beginning Jane felt Phelps was their killer. He saw Pelton routinely. He kidnapped Allyson. They had found all those pictures of eyes in his closet and Allyson's eyes were removed. Phelps appeared to have the need to make up with Pelton or prove himself in some way. The murder pointed to Phelps.

When Jane read the list Grant had given her it read like reminders or tips on what to do or not to do. If Manning had in fact written the list that made him more of a planner and co-conspirator in the murder than a participant. And in reading the list it did seem that it was a list of things for Phelps to specifically do and Jane again interpreted that to mean Phelps was executing the items on the list outside of Manning's presence.

Both men seemed tied into the crime in some way. Jane just needed to figure out how it all fit together. Jennings may be their best chance.

"Show him photos of Manning and Phelps," Jane said. "See if he knows anything at all about Pelton's inheritance and estate. Also," she started.

"Victimology," Korsak finished. "I got it Jane."

She smiled an apologetic smile she knew he would understand. It wasn't that she didn't think Vince knew what to ask or how to handle Jennings. It was more that she knew this was normally something she handled herself since she had gone through all the original case files. She still felt a little guilty for making Korsak talk with Jennings.

Frost hung up the phone and looked at his two partners. "Got both warrants," he said. "CSRU techs are heading out to each site now."

"Who's going where?" Korsak asked.

Jane and Frost both knew the better site to supervise and not be completely bored was the storage unit. Without saying a word Frost dug into his pocket and pulled out a quarter. "Call it," he said to Jane as he flipped the quarter in the air.

"Tails," Jane answered. Tails was always her go-to choice. She wasn't even sure why Frost ever asked her. She never picked heads.

Frost caught the quarter and flipped it over onto the top of his hand. He pulled away the hand covering the quarter to reveal who won the flip.

"Damn it," he whined as he looked down and saw the 'tail' of the quarter exposed.

Jane broke out into a huge grin. Her win was actually two-fold. First, she knew the storage unit had the potential to contain a ton of new evidence. But second, she knew she would be travelling in the opposite direction of Boston's morning rush hour traffic. Poor Frost had to head into the city to get to the Hartford Building. He'd lose at least 30 minutes just in traffic.

"Sorry partner," she offered in the most insincere tone.

"Every time," he mumbled and cursed Jane's insistence on calling 'tails'. He know statistically that it was a 50-50 option with each flip but he swore that Jane won at least at an 80-20 rate. He was going to have to start keeping better tabs on her success rate.

"Alright," Korsak said. "Frost, you better get going. Traffic will be rough." He tried his hardest to contain a laugh when Frost gave him an evil stare. "Both of you keep me in the loop."

Frost and Jane both headed towards the elevators but heard Korsak call out.

"If Jennings cancels again, I'll join you."

Both partners nodded and both knew Korsak would be joining Jane and not Frost. That seemed to just annoy the young detective even more.

"Stupid tails," he mumbled as they got into the elevator.

R&I

Before heading out to the storage unit Jane took a detour and stopped by Maura's office. She walked up to her office door looking in to find the ME but Maura was not there. Jane then turned and crossed the hallway to pop into the lab. She found what she was looking for when she entered the lab.

She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she took in the sight before her. She'd already had a good morning with the ME. From waking up to a kiss from the woman to having breakfast made for her, the morning had been great. Looking at the ME who was leaning over a table working on a victim Jane assumed was assigned to the third shift, the morning seemed suddenly perfect as she was now treated to Maura in her black scrubs.

As far as Jane was concerned, Maura could make anything sexy as hell. But there was just something about the woman in her black scrubs with her hair pulled back that made Jane feel tingly in all the right places. She slowed her approach trying to just enjoy the view for as long as she could before eventually settling near the doctor.

"Hey," Jane said announcing her presence even though she was sure Maura knew she was in the lab.

"Did you get anything?" Maura asked not losing focus on the procedure she was doing.

"AFIS hit and with our suspect's actual identity we are starting to get information fast and furious," Jane answered.

Maura heard excitement and relief in Jane's tone and knew without even looking that there was a smile on the detective's face. She knew Jane was sure they were close to a resolution in her case.

"That's excellent," Maura announced as she finished what she was working on and turned her attention to Jane.

"I just wanted to let you know that Frost and I are heading out to supervise search warrant and CSRU teams for a little while so you can hold off on coming up with all sorts of reasons why you need to come upstairs at least until I get back." Jane smiled knowingly at the ME.

Maura returned the smile. "That's good to know," she replied. "I'll just wait until I know you are back in the station before I put the reasons to use." She certainly wasn't going to apologize about being worried about the woman she loved.

Jane chuckled. "I'm ok, Maur." She really was. Executing the search warrants that morning would most likely keep her occupied long enough for Jennings to come and go if he even bothered to show at all. If not, she would handle it. She had no desire to see the man but it wasn't like she was afraid of him.

"I know you are," Maura said. "But I am still going to check up on you." She knew Jane was fine but it didn't mean that she wasn't allowed to worry about the detective.

Jane nodded. It felt nice to have Maura worry about her. Had it been anyone else, Jane would have hated that they worried. She never wanted anyone to think she was weak. But with Maura, she knew Maura didn't see her as weak she just cared. And Jane kind of loved that about her.

"I'll let you know when I get back," she said and walked just close enough to the ME to lean in for a quick kiss but not so close that she would risk contaminating the area Maura had been working. The kiss was quick but far from chaste.

When it ended Jane simply turned around and headed out towards her car. Both quietly seemed to realize that Jane had just kissed Maura at work and both smiled to themselves that they didn't even care.

R&I

Even with the stop down in the morgue to see Maura, Jane made it to Planet Self storage way before Frost made it to the Hartford Building. When he called to bitch about the traffic, Jane suggested he turn on lights and sirens to weave through the congestion but Frost just couldn't get himself to abuse that privilege for the sake of a search.

Jane met up with the manager of the storage facility and once he was convinced that the search warrant was valid he led the detective and the CSRU techs to the appropriate unit. The lock was removed from the unit and the overhead door was rolled up. It took less than a second after the door was opened for Jane to pull out her phone and take a picture of what was inside. She text the picture and a message to Frost.

_Tails rocks! -J_

Grant had been right. Phelps had parked the missing Chevy Malibu inside the storage shed. Jane grabbed her phone and called Korsak.

"Hey Jane," he greeted as he answered his phone.

"Found the Malibu," Jane replied.

"That's great!" Korsak exclaimed. "Need a tow?"

"Yeah," Jane said. "There's no reason to have the techs go through the car here. Send me a truck and they can process the car at the station." She looked into the unit past the car and saw about 10 to 12 boxes stacked up against the back wall. "There's enough other stuff here to keep this entire CSRU team busy. They don't need to add the car to their workload."

"I'll have one sent," he said. "Does Frost know?" He was sure Jane had already rubbed her find in.

"I found the time to taunt him," she said with a chuckle.

"Alright," Korsak said. "Let me know if you get any clue about where Phelps might be hiding out."

Jane hung up without asking about Jennings. She knew if Andrew had once again called off Vince would have told her. She let the tech team take a series of photographs to document the location of everything before sliding in past the car to pull down the first box. She had been close on her initial count. They would have 11 boxes to look through trying to find any evidence contacted to the murder or Phelps' current location.

R&I

Rush hour traffic had already put Frost in an agitated state. Getting the photo from Jane just exasperated his mood. Once he finally got to the Hartford Building he met up with his assigned CSRU team and they were met by the building manager. Frost had contacted him earlier to let him know that they would be executing a search warrant on some office space. The building manager had agreed to meet him and to be of any assistance.

After his review of the search warrants, the building manager let Frost and the techs into the office space rented by Phelps. There was not much on the outside of the suite of offices to indicate what type of business the space was supposed to serve. Just the name on the outside of the door.

Gardien Investments, LLC

Frost made a note to follow-up on the company name and profile. If it was a real company he was interested in the filed articles of incorporation. The three had all agreed that the odds of this space being used for an actual, legitimate business seemed unlikely. He didn't miss that "Gardien' was French for 'gatekeeper' and wondered if that tied into Pelton's one note to Phelps about how the eyes were the gatekeeper to the soul. None of them had managed to figure out the fixation with eyes.

Once the building manager unlocked the office suite Frost did a quick search of the space to see if Phelps had been hiding there. The offices were empty and Frost couldn't find any signs that would indicate anyone had been there recently.

Once the space of secure, Frost let the techs start to work. He looked around and was immediately disappointed that there was no electronic he could try to look through. None of the desks had laptops or hard drives. In fact there wasn't much in any of the three separate rooms for the techs to go through. There just wasn't much here for Frost to even deal with.

He made a mental note to make Jane flip the coin next time and he was so calling 'tails'.

R&I

Seven boxes into Jane's search of the storage shed resulted in a discovery. If she was right about what she had just found she definitely had a connection between Pelton, Phelps and murder. She let the CSRU techs bag the evidence before she took a photo. She hadn't heard from Frost all morning so she knew he hadn't found anything good.

She typed her text, attached the photo and hit send.

_Want to SEE what I found?" -J_

It was mean and probably a little childish but so what. That's what partners did sometimes.

Across town Frost reluctantly opened the attachment knowing full well that it was just going to piss him off.

"Oh man!" he exclaimed.

Jane not only found the Malibu but had found what looked like three jars. He was pretty sure he knew what was inside the jars. He was pretty sure he was looking at the missing eyes from Montgomery as well as the eyes from whom he assumed were Pelton's two victims.

R&I

At the stroke of 9 am Korsak received a call from duty sergeant saying he had a visitor. Andrew Jennings had managed to come in. Korsak told the sergeant to issue Jennings a visitor pass and send him up. He grabbed the notes he made about the questions he wanted to ask Jennings and headed towards the elevators to wait for his arrival.

After a few moments the elevator opened and Jennings stepped out. Korsak recognized him immediately but he could tell the years had not been kind to the man. He was Vince's age but just seemed to look much older and he didn't appear to carry himself with the same swagger he had the last time he most likely walked these halls.

"Vince," Jennings said as he stepped off the elevator. He had worked with Vince before his release and had liked the detective.

"Andrew," Korsak replied. "Thanks for coming in."

Jennings walked towards Vince and stretched out his hand as part of his greeting. Vince made no effort to accept it and acted as if it had never been offered in the first place. A small frown flashed across Jennings' face but was gone immediately. He pulled his hand and decided to pretend it had never been offered.

"I'm sorry I had to push this off," he offered with flat tone that Korsak couldn't quite judge the sincerity. "I just couldn't get out of another obligation."

Vince just gave a slight nod. He still wasn't too thrilled with the reschedule but that was now a moot point. "Let's head to one of the interview rooms," he said and he directed Jennings to start walking. For any other former colleague, Korsak would have taken them to his desk in the bullpen. But for Jennings, the interview room would suffice.

Korsak watched Jennings as they walked towards the interview room. The man's eyes darted back and forth taking in the layout and set ups. He was sure Jennings was trying to picture the bullpen as it had been set up eight years ago. Some things were the same. Some things were different. There was just no way to hide the passage of time.

They entered the interview room and Korsak at least extended Jennings the courtesy of not shutting the door. Usually for non-suspect interviews unless there was some sensitivity to the conversation, they tried to keep the door open. It helped put some people at ease with talking to the police. Unlike actual suspects, they could walk out whenever they wanted.

Jennings had been carrying two notebooks with him that he sat down on the table. Korsak had informed him the first time they spoke that they were looking for any information he might have on the Pelton case that hadn't made it into the official files.

"So," Jennings said. "Pelton is connected to one of your cases?"

"We believe so," Korsak said. He wasn't going to give Jennings an all access pass into their current case. "He's still in Cedar Junction so he's not our killer but we believe he is linked to our current suspect in some way."

"Pelton. Now there was a sick man," Jennings replied.

That led Vince into his first question. "Did you ever figure out what he did with the eyes?" They hadn't found Allyson's yet and Jane said there was no mention in any of the files that Pelton's victims' eyes were ever found.

Jennings shook his head. "Never did. I even asked the man once when we were in court before he entered his guilty plea. He never answered me. He just gave me this creepy smile."

"Did he ever talk to you about what eyes meant to him?" Korsak asked.

"A few times," Jennings admitted. "But to be honest with you I really only remember that none of what he said made any sense to me at the time." He picked up one of notebooks and flipped through the pages. "Like here," he said as he found something he was looking for.

'_June 3rd- Pelton claims eyes are gatekeeper to the soul'_

"I don't know now and I sure didn't know back then what he meant by that. I mean I've heard of eyes being the 'window' into a soul before but nothing about a gatekeeper."

"Anything about possession or possessing?" Korsak asked.

Jennings flipped through the notebooks again but then looked up. "Nothing."

"Does the name Walter Stills mean anything to you?" Vince asked. It was unknown at that point just how long Phelps had been using the name Stills.

Vince had given that name to Jennings before and Jennings had searched through his notebooks. "I never came across a Walter Stills," he said and before Vince could sigh in frustration he added, "But I did come across the name Wally Phelps. I don't know if that will help you are not."

"What was that in reference to?" Vince asked.

Jennings went to the second notebook he brought and flipped through a few pages.

'_May 26th- possible alibi claim Wally Phelps may try to claim Pelton was with him on the night of the 10th. Find Phelps/validate claim'_

"Phelps was going to try to provide Pelton with an alibi for the first murder?" Korsak asked.

"I'm not sure," Jennings said. "We got a tip saying that this Wally Phelps might be trying to provide an alibi for the night of the 10th. The State's Attorney wanted Jackson and I to look into this Phelps and see if we could dispute the alibi claim."

"Could you?" Korsak asked.

"I never got around to it," Jennings said. "Jackson and I were going to but three days later Pelton pled guilty so it became irrelevant."

Korsak had a distinct feeling that little piece of information was extremely important to understanding their current case. He just still didn't quite get the connection between Phelps and Pelton.

"Did you ever look into this Phelps at all? Korsak asked.

"I remember Jackson ran his name and the kid had a rap sheet a mile long. Mostly juvie hits but enough that we didn't think we were going to have a hard time disputing Phelps story or his credibility if we had to. But we never talked to the kid."

"Do you remember where the original tip came from?" Vince wondered who would know Phelps was going to try to provide a possible fake alibi for Pelton.

Jennings shook his head. "I never wrote down the source," he said. "It may not be the case but that note was scribbled down in the midst of notes about tip line calls so it's quite possible the information came to us from the tip line the department established after the second victim was found.

Korsak was unwilling to tell Jennings that the Walter Stills he had originally asked about was actually Wally Phelps. Instead, he pulled out a photo of Phelps and slid it over to Jennings. "Do you recognize him at all?"

Jennings studied the photo and then pushed it back to Korsak. "No," he said, "I don't."

"What about victimology?" Korsak asked. They wondered how Pelton picked his victims thinking maybe it might help think figure out what Phelps was doing.

"We didn't end up exploring that too far either when Pelton pled guilty. Best I can tell you is that first he had to see the girl somewhere within his day-to-day. The first victim turned out to be bank teller at the branch Pelton used. The second victim was a cashier at a grocery store he frequently shopped. Now, what about the two or why those two specifically, I really don't know but I would imagine their eyes may have something to do with it."

"What about Peter Manning," Korsak asked and slid a picture of Manning over to Jennings.

"That's Pelton's lawyer," Jennings said. "Not a criminal one but like his personal lawyer."

"Why did Pelton need a personal lawyer?" Korsak wondered.

"I think he managed Pelton's money," Jennings said. "Pelton was loaded. Some sort of inheritance from his parents. Millions. From what I remember that guy handled the money and financial affairs and Pelton lived off of a trust."

"Do you know how his parents died?" Vince asked wondering if that was ever looked into.

"Natural causes," Jennings replied. "We checked too but the lab boys confirmed each was a natural cause. His parents passed within about six months of each other."

"And you said Pelton lived off of a trust fund?" he asked.

"Yeah. I remember joking about how it must be rough being able to afford to live completely off an 'allowance'," he said.

"Did Pelton ever have a job or work anywhere?" Vince asked.

"No," Jennings said. "With that trust fund he never needed to work."

Korsak asked Jennings several more questions without gaining much useful information. He then asked if he could quickly flip through the notebooks Jennings brought to see if something sparked a question or connection.

However, it didn't.

The trip in hadn't been a complete waste for Korsak. They got confirmation that Pelton knew Phelps 10 years ago and Phelps had potentially known Pelton well enough that he had planned on trying to offer up an alibi for Pelton. As Korsak looked at his notes he just knew that Phelps piece mattered but he didn't see where it fit.

Knowing there wasn't anything more he was going to get from the man, Korsak decided to end the interview. He was even happy that it looked like Jennings would be long gone before Jane made it back to the station which was fine with Vince. He naturally didn't like anyone or anything that upset Jane so Jennings could leave at any time.

Korsak pushed himself away from the table and stood up. "Thanks for coming in Andrew," he said.

Jennings stood up but didn't step back away from the table. "You know Vince," he said. "I was a little surprised it was you that I was coming to talk to. I mean you are a Sergeant after all. Isn't this task a little beneath you?"

Korsak picked up on the sarcasm to Jennings tone but chose to ignore it. "We all do what we can to work our cases," Korsak said.

"But I thought this was Rizzoli's case," he said. It had been the first time either had mentioned Jane's name. "I see the superstar has got you all wrapped around her finger if she can get you to do her scut work for her." He didn't hide the disdain in his voice when he spoke.

"Jane's not a topic that is open for discussion," Korsak warned Jennings. It was time for the former detective to leave.

"Come on," Jennings said trying to ease the tension that had suddenly filled the room. "We're old friends. I'm just trying to get caught up on all that I've missed."

Korsak gave him a hard stare. "We are not 'old friends' Andrew. And this conversation is over."

Jennings threw up his hands, "Alright," he said as if he was going to back down. "Just remember something Vince. There's two sides to every story. You really shouldn't have let yourself listen to everything she's ever said about me."

"That would difficult to do considering she's never talked about you," Korsak pointed out. He knew he probably shouldn't even be walking down this road with Jennings but he wasn't going to let the man badmouth Jane.

"Right!" Jennings scoffed. "I'm sure she couldn't wait to run her mouth and tell all you guys her version of what happened. I'm sure she spread all kinds of lies about me. She wanted me out of homicide. Hell, she wanted my job. She even went straight to the top to block my reinstatement the vindictive..." but he was cut off before he could string together what would have been strong insults against Jane.

"Jane wasn't responsible for that you ignorant jackass," came a voice from the hallway. "I blocked your reinstatement."

The voice belonged to Cavanaugh who was standing in the doorway staring directly at Jennings and if looks could kill Jennings would have been in serious trouble.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"_Jane wasn't the one responsible for that you ignorant jackass. I blocked your reinstatement."_

Jennings looked at Sean for a minute in pure disbelief. "You?" he said almost as if something like that couldn't have been possible.

"Yes," Sean confirmed. He stepped into the room all the while keeping his eyes locked on Jennings. "Jane didn't have anything to do with that. I stopped it."

Jennings' look of disbelief turned to anger. "Why the hell would you have done that to me? I was the best detective you had. Hell I was the best detective this entire department ever had."

Cavanaugh just shook his head. So many things were wrong with what Jennings had just said he almost didn't know where to begin. "You crossed the line Andrew. And once you crossed it there was no coming back."

Jennings looked between Sean and Vince. He just couldn't understand either of them. "So you both just took her word for what happened. Believed everything she told you? You just let that woman ruin my life without so much as even considering my side of it?" It had always bothered him that no one had ever tried to get his side. Not even his partner Will. They all just shipped him off to a rehab unit as if Jane's word was law.

"Jane has never said one word to me about what happened between you two," Korsak clarified this point once again. "Not one word."

Jennings looked at him and was shocked. Before he could even respond to Korsak Sean spoke.

"You really have this all twisted in your head," he said unable to understand where Jennings was coming from. "Why is it that you think Jane was out to get you? If anything, you should thanking that woman for helping you instead of apparently blaming her for every mistake you ever made in your damn life."

"Thanking her?!" Jennings exclaimed. "I should thank her for costing me my job. My life. I should thank her for ruining my reputation?"

"Oh," Korsak chimed in. "You did that all on your own." He had no idea why Jennings was trying to blame everything on Jane.

"If it wasn't for her," Jennings started but Sean cut him off.

"If it wasn't for her you'd have been arrested and thrown in jail," Sean answered him. "That's what I wanted to do to you. That and beat the ever living shit out of you. She was the one that talked me out of it. Both options as a matter of fact. She just wanted you to get help. Although I don't know why. If you had pulled that shit against me I would have knocked you into next week and then tossed your ass in jail. To this day I'm sorry I let her talk me out of doing just that."

That shut Jennings up. For years he thought Jane had filed a complaint about what had happened. That she went running to Sean the second she could. He thought she saw his one slip-up as a chance to get him out the homicide department and create an opening that she might be able to fill. He thought she was trying to push him out and his bosses, including Sean, had talked her into letting him enter rehab with the idea of bringing him back once he was finished.

Just as he thought she blocked his reinstatement. He thought she was just bitter and jealous of how good he was and that if he stayed out of homicide she would get there faster. He thought she played the victim angle or the whole gender card to block his reinstatement. He had spent years blaming Jane for having lost what he considered to be his.

"She trusted and respected you Andrew," Sean said. "And even after what you did she was a hell of a lot better to you than she needed to be. She never said anything. To anyone. Even with all the rumors that circulated. She never went there. What he," and Sean indicated to Korsak, "knows came from me. Not Jane. And what I know happened, well I made her tell me and trust me when I say I got better details from Will than I ever got from her.

"She's never done anything to you Andrew." Sean shook his head. He wasn't certain what reasoning in Jennings' mind led him to truly believe Jane was the cause of all his issues. "You did it all to yourself. You. No one else.

"You took to the bottle." Sean had been aware that Andrew's drinking was starting to become an issue long before he ever attacked Jane. He knew Andrew was coming late and leaving early. He knew the man was hung over most mornings. He knew his work performance was suffering. And he knew he failed to address it properly back then. He knew he fell into that trap of believing that time would fix the issue or that Andrew would get it under control. He let Will cover for his partner and trusted that if it was really getting out of control Will would say something. He failed in that respect. He failed Andrew and in the end he ended up failing Jane as well.

"You let the mess of your divorce turn you against women in general," Sean voiced as his speculation. But he didn't think he was wrong about that either. When he first heard that Andrew had attacked Jane he couldn't believe it. But then he slowly pieced together things Jennings had let slip in the past. Jabs and derogatory statements about his ex-wife that could easily be seen as condemnation of women in general. Sean had a theory that because of the bitterness of his divorce Jennings may have felt emasculated by women. He also believed in some ways because of his ill feelings towards his ex-wife and women he somewhere came to see Jane as a threat to him. A threat to his job. A threat to his own self esteem. It was that drunken perceived threat that Sean believed was behind Jennings' attack that night.

"There is no one you can blame for how all of this went down but yourself," Sean said not quite knowing if anything he said would sink in for the man. "That's why I blocked your reinstatement. I no longer trusted you. And I certainly no longer respected you. I didn't need or want people like you in my division."

"But I was," Jennings again tried to defend himself and was again cut off. This time by Korsak.

"You were good Andrew," he said. "But you weren't the best." While Korsak had generally like Andrew when they had worked together, he always thought the man had too high of an opinion of himself for his own good.

"Oh and I suppose you thought you were the best," Jennings snapped at Korsak sarcastically.

"No," Korsak admitted. "It was never me." He was quiet for a minute before he spoke. "It was always her." They all knew exactly who they were talking about.

"But she," Jennings started.

"But she was just getting started," Korsak said finishing Jennings statement for him with his own. "She's the best I have ever worked with." There was no mistaking the sincerity and conviction in Korsak's tone. He wasn't saying that to say it. He was simply speaking the truth.

Jennings turned to Cavanaugh as if he would somehow offer a dissenting opinion. He wasn't about to hear one.

"She the absolute best this department has ever had," Sean said emphatically. "And unlike you, she doesn't see herself that way. She just thinks she does her job like she'd supposed to. But no one, absolutely no one, has ever done it better than she has."

Jennings couldn't believe the people he once thought were his friends saw Jane as someone better than he was. He was the best. He had taught her. He had made her. He couldn't believe he was being dismissed by his former colleagues. "So you two say," was for some reason the only response he could think of to say. He knew plenty of others who remembered that he was the best.

"Says everyone in this station," came a new voice from the hallway. Three heads turned to see Frost standing in the doorway. He had just returned from his supervision on the search of the Hartford Building and gone looking for Korsak when he stumbled upon a very interesting conversation.

"And who the hell are you?" Jennings asked not appreciating a stranger getting involved in his conversation.

"Just a guy who's been lucky enough to call the very best his partner for the last two years," Frost said. He knew how lucky he was that he had been teamed up with Jane. "But seriously, don't take my word for it. Ask anyone in this station, hell this department, and they will tell you the same thing. She has earned the respect of every member on this force. And unlike you, she's managed to keep it."

He may never be told exactly what it was that the man in front of his had done to Jane but in the end it didn't matter. Jane was his partner and he would do whatever it took to protect her. He'd break this man in two if that's what was needed. Based on the look on Cavanaugh's face and the one on Jennings' he wasn't completely convinced it still wouldn't come to that.

Jennings stared at three men now completely surrounding him. All of whom seemed to be defending Jane to no end. As he looked from face to face to face, he had to admit that not one of them seemed to have even a shred of doubt in what they were trying to explain to him. But in that moment, he just wasn't ready to let go of his anger towards the second of two women he blamed his life failures on.

"Whatever," he grumbled as he collected his notebooks. Clearly it was time for him to leave. He started to make his way out of the interview room Cavanaugh and Frost stepping out his way as he passed them. Once in the hallway he turned to look that the three.

"You know," he started and didn't try to hide his contempt for the entire group. "If she's so damn good why did you all need to call me in for a consult?" He got a smug look on his face like he had just scored a major victory pointing that out.

All three men in the hallway started to provide an answer but all three were beaten to it by yet another person who seemed to join in on the conversation.

"Because Jane cares more about doing whatever it takes to find a killer and save innocent lives than trying to protect some overinflated ego or being so arrogant that she would refuse to admit she doesn't have all the answers and that sometimes she needs the help of others."

The voice was one three of them knew well and Jennings had never heard before.

"Nobody was talking to you," Jennings tried to dismiss the newly added person to the conversation. How in the hell was he now outnumbered four to one?

"Don't take that tone with Dr Isles," Frost warned and took a step forward. The guy was a complete ass.

Jennings turned to look at Maura. "Well," he started and let his eyes scan her from top to bottom smirking as he finished. "I can just take a guess as to how you got your job."

All three men were about to move in to defend their ME. Their friend. But someone beat them all to it.

Before anyone could react. Before anyone knew what happened. Jennings was thrown up against the wall with the forearm of Jane Rizzoli pressed firmly against his throat. He at first was too stunned at have been pushed that fast and that hard against the wall to move. But once he got his senses back, Jane's grip on him was too strong and too good for him to move. He was trapped and now staring back into a set of furious eyes.

"If you ever look at her like that again or use that tone with her it will be the very last thing you ever do Andrew." Her tone was even and full of the anger the threat was meant to convey. There was no mistaking the fact that she meant what she was saying. She'd tear him apart in a second if he didn't wise up.

Jennings and Jane just stared at each other neither blinking. Cavanaugh, Korsak and Frost simply moved to be in position to back Jane up if Jennings was too stupid to just shut up. Maura simply stood and watched.

"Now, unless you have something more for us that pertains to this investigation, I do believe that visitor's pass of yours is about to expire." She paused to see if Jennings was going to say something. When he didn't she finished. "Now, Frost is going to escort you out. I'd say it was good to see you but that would be a lie."

If Jennings thought the look Sean gave him was daunting, the look coming from Jane was a hundred times more menacing. Jane sensed Frost step forward and she slowly released the hold she had on her former mentor. She took a step back and Frost stepped into her place.

Jennings straightened himself up but never said another word. Frost escorted him to the elevators and all the way out of the station.

In the meantime, Jane turned to Cavanaugh and Korsak. "Nice reunion?" she asked trying to minimize the tension that had filled the hallway. Both men snickered at her attempt to make a joke. She turned to Maura. "You ok?"

Maura smiled and nodded. "Yes." She wanted to say more but Korsak and Sean were standing there. She had wanted to do more but knew it wasn't the time or place. But in that moment there was just something about Jane protecting her that had her trembling in her knees.

Jane smirked at her and winked apparently indicating that what Maura was feeling was mutual. She turned again to the guys. "Please at least tell me that jerk had something to offer to make dealing with him worth it."

"He didn't have much but he did have one piece of information," Korsak said.

Jane nodded. "I've got more information too." She had found more than the car and the eyes. She was pretty sure she knew how to close out this case. "Give me a minute and I'll meet up with you guys in the bullpen."

Vince and Sean nodded and left Jane with Maura.

R&I

Jane took a step closer into Maura. "Are you sure you are ok?" she asked. She had caught up to the conversation as the group had entered into the hallway. She knew Jennings hadn't touched Maura but the look he gave her was enough that Jane had the urge to end him.

"I'm fine," Maura said reassuringly. The man was a complete jerk but no harm was done. "You defended my honor," she said with a sly smile.

That made Jane's anger break and she returned the smile in kind. "I'll defend your everything," she pointed out.

Their eyes stayed locked onto each other. It was clear they both wanted more in that moment. But they both knew where they were standing and understood more couldn't happen in that moment.

Maura broke their silence first. "Tonight."

Jane wasn't sure if it was the promise of what the word seemed to hold or the look on the ME's face when she said it that made her breath hitch and her knees weaken. It was probably a combination of both that did her in.

She swallowed hard but then answered. "Definitely."

She stood still and watched Maura her entire trip to the elevator. She didn't even try to look away until the elevator had closed. She stood there for a moment longer trying to get her legs to start responding again before she headed to find Korsak and Frost. As much as she hated to put off that woman, she still had some work to do. But tonight was definitely coming.

R&I

When Jane entered the bullpen Korsak and Frost were waiting for her. She smiled at them both. She hadn't heard everything they had said but she had a feeling they all stood up for her. She simply nodded to them both and knew she didn't need to say anything more.

"Alright," she started. "What did he manage to tell you that might help us?" She at least hadn't wanted bring in Jennings to be a complete waste of time.

Korsak recapped quickly the pertinent pieces of information Jennings had including the fact that Manning had been Pelton's financial lawyer even ten years ago and that his money had come from his parents. Then he explained what he felt was the only new information they had learned from Pelton that could be of any use to them.

"According to Pelton," Korsak said, "he got a tip that a Wally Phelps was going to try to act as Pelton's alibi for the first murder."

That got Jane's interest. "Really?" she said.

Korsak nodded. "It was in his notes. He doesn't remember where the tip came from but he turned the information over to the State' Attorney."

"Did they investigate Phelps?" Frost asked.

"They started to," he answered. "He said Will ran Phelps' name and found his juvie record but before they could talk to him Pelton pled guilty so it became a non-issue."

"Interesting," Jane said. "Or at least that now seems to fit."

"Fit what?" Korsak asked.

"For starters is helps explain why Phelps had the eyes from Pelton's victims," Jane said. They wouldn't know the exact reason of course but if Phelps was close enough to Pelton 10 years ago to try to lie for him it no longer surprised her why Phelps seemed to have those eyes in his storage unit. "Clearly they've had a long standing relationship. At this point, Phelps could have even been involved in Pelton's two murders."

"So we can tie Phelps to Pelton all the way back to the original murders," Korsak said, "but that doesn't explain Montgomery's death."

"I think it does," Jane said. "Grant was right about that. Phelps was trying to win back Pelton's approval. Pelton cut him out of his life and I think Phelps believed if he recreated what Pelton had tried 10 years ago that would get him back. If he was around Pelton for those first murders 10 years ago then I think he was just more convinced that was the best way for Pelton to forgive him."

Frost and Korsak nodded their heads. That made sense. If Phelps was there when the first murders took place he definitely would have known what Pelton was trying to do and how much it meant to him. "Alright," Frost said. "I buy that."

"But why wait six months?" Korsak asked. "Did he really need to start killing on the exact anniversary of the first murders?"

"No," Jane said. "I think that was just an added bonus. Besides, I don't think killing someone was Phelps idea. I'm pretty sure someone else convinced him that would be the best way to fix the rift that had grown between them."

"Manning?" Korsak asked trying to follow Jane's thinking.

"Manning," Jane confirmed. "I'm pretty sure he pushed all the right buttons on Phelps."

"Why?" Korsak asked.

Before Jane could answer Frost chimed in. "Money," he said.

Jane looked at him and smiled. She knew they were on the same page. "So heads wasn't a complete waste for you?" she asked.

"I'm so calling 'tails' next time," he said with a smile. "You got eyes. I got financial records."

Korsak looked between the two partners who seemed to know a hell of a lot more than he did in that moment. "Someone want to clue me in?"

Before Jane acknowledged Korsak's question she had one for Frost. "Are his financials back yet?"

Frost nodded. He handed a folder over to Jane. "There are at least two Swiss bank accounts perhaps a third. I'm still trying to trace a few transfers."

"Guys, seriously. Clue me in here." Korsak didn't like being the only one who didn't know what was going on.

Jane turned to Korsak. "The short version?" she asked.

"We can start there," Korsak said.

"The short version is that Peter Manning has been embezzling money from David Pelton for years," Jane said and Frost nodded his head in agreement.

"Ok," Korsak said. "I guess I need the long version because I don't see the connection."

"I think," Jane started as she thought she had pieced together enough of the puzzle to be close to the truth, "Pelton had Manning initially managing his inheritance. I would assume he had the money put into some sort of trust and Pelton was given funds from that fund to live off of. He didn't work and it was the inheritance money that provided for his expenses. Somewhere along the way Pelton met Phelps. They hit it off. I think Pelton took the kid in and started providing for him as well." She was speculating a bit but she didn't think she was wrong. Especially knowing that Phelps had the eyes from the first two victims.

"He was," confirmed Frost. "I found papers in the office space that goes back eleven years. Pelton was supporting Phelps. He was covering Phelps' rent as well as giving him money."

"Alright," Korsak said but he needed more.

"When Pelton got arrested and sentenced to prison he wanted to continue to care for Phelps' need so he arranged for Manning to have power of attorney rights over his finances with the understanding that Phelps was to continue to be supported." Frost had found some papers in one of the office cabinets that had establish an account for Phelps that ultimately was managed by Manning.

"With Pelton in prison and Phelps still getting the set amount of money he had previously been given that left a lot of money available for Manning to claim for himself," Frost continued. "It was the perfect set up. Pelton was in prison for life. Phelps got his funding like clockwork and that left no one to watch what Manning chose to do with the rest of the money."

"Pelton's inheritance was in the millions," Jane pointed out. "What Phelps was receiving as a stipend was what I am guessing simply the interest off of just one of the many investments Manning made with the estate. Manning could afford for that money to go out without a care."

"Phelps was being given his money without fail and Pelton had no means to check on the bulk of his estate," Frost pointed out. "Manning started to embezzle." He pulled out some of the financial records he found in the office space. They showed regular wire transfers to several bank accounts. They were talking serious money.

"So how does all this time into Phelps and Montgomery?" Korsak asked.

"The fight," Jane said. "When Pelton got into a fight with Phelps over Grant he cut him off. Not just with visits and communication but with money too."

"When Pelton demanded Manning stop subsidizing Phelps six months ago I think he asked Manning for a complete audit of his estate." Frost had found paperwork indicating Manning was attempting to restructure the estate to hide the missing funds.

"So Manning was about to get caught with his hand in the cookie jar," Korsak said starting to catch on.

"Exactly," Jane said. "And Phelps was distraught that Pelton cut him off. It wasn't the money for Phelps. I think he viewed Pelton as family. He just wanted Pelton back. Not knowing exactly what to do, he turned to Manning for advice."

"And Manning wanting to hide his embezzlement convinces Phelps that Pelton would take him back if he proved himself. Proved his loyalty and his worthiness. I think it was Manning would planted the idea of repeating Pelton's crime." Jane had found notes Phelps had written much to that effect.

"Because if Pelton forgave Phelps then he wouldn't need to change the financial arrangements he had made," Frost said. "If Phelps could fix his rift with Pelton, Manning would most likely be in the clear and he could continue to embezzle money undetected."

"Can we prove this?" Korsak asked.

"From what I've seen so far we have Manning nailed on the embezzlement," Frost said. He had found two Swiss bank accounts and scheduled wire transfers from Pelton's assets into those accounts.

"And from the 'to-do' list Grant turned over to us and the notes I found in the storage unit, we have enough on Manning for at least conspiracy," Jane added. "But I think we will get enough to include at a minimum felony murder for him."

"From where?" Korsak asked. Frost looked at Jane too as this he didn't seem to already know.

"The Malibu," Jane said. "I have a feeling that we are going to find a set of prints inside that car we can link to Manning. If we can put him in that car I think that puts him in line for felony murder."

"When will the prints be ready?" Korsak asked.

"I just checked downstairs they have several latents ready to process so it shouldn't take too long." Being a lawyer, Manning's prints were already on file. If he was a match they would know it soon.

"But none of this gets us Phelps," Korsak pointed out.

"Actually," Jane said. "If we get Manning I know we will get Phelps. He will know where Phelps is and he will want to use that to help cut a deal."

"And how do you know he knows where Phelps is?" Frost asked.

"He already told us that," she answered and pulled out the evidence bag that contained the handwritten note from Manning. "Point 5," she said,

_5- Remember what we discussed about contact after and follow that without exception_

If Jane's hunch was right, Peter Manning knew exactly where Walter Phelps was hiding.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Everything started to happen all at once that early Monday afternoon. It seemed the pieces of the puzzle all started to fit into place. The search of the Malibu had not only yielded two latent prints the team could link to Peter Manning just as Jane had predicted but they also found rope that was similar to what they believed was used to strangle Allyson and a knife with a serrated blade. Jane was relatively sure that the knife had been used to cut out Allyson's eyes.

Those items were turned over to Maura so she could have the crime lab run the comparisons. Maura was also given the three sets of eyes that Jane had found in the storage unit. Everyone was certain that Maura's test would show one to be Allyson's and the other two to be that of Pelton's victims.

Just as the forensic evidence started flowing in from all directions, so did the financial data. Frost was able to find two more Swiss bank accounts he could link to wire transfers from Pelton's estate authorized by Manning. From what Frost could tell Manning had embezzled millions of dollars from Pelton while the man was in prison.

Jane and Korsak managed to finally figure out the connection between Pelton and Phelps as well. In one of the last boxes that had been in the storage unit, Jane found a picture of a young Phelps and a younger version of David Pelton. She showed it to Korsak and the picture made him remember something he had seen as he had flipped through the pages of Jennings' notebooks.

There had been a notation from Jennings about Pelton volunteering with a youth outreach group. Apparently Jennings hadn't dug too far into the group when they realized that the outreach was for male juvenile offenders. Pelton's victims had been female so no one follow-up up on the volunteer work. Especially after Pelton pled guilty.

Frost ran a check and it turned out that Phelps was ordered into the outreach program when he was 17. It had been a last ditched effort to try to correct Phelps criminal ways. This was when Walter Phelps met David Pelton and a bound was formed between them. Jane was curious as to the dynamics of the relationship as much as she wondered what, if any, role Phelps played in the original murders but she knew those answers would not come until they found Phelps and had a chance to interrogate him.

Jane was still convinced that Manning knew exactly where Phelps was hiding. From what she could gather amongst the things she had read through she got the sense the Phelps would have followed any strong, dominant personality. She had a feeling Manning had manipulated Phelps for years probably using Phelps' connection to Pelton to cover up his embezzlement. If she was right about Manning subtly convincing Phelps that murder was the way to win back Pelton, she was sure Manning had arranged Phelps' hide out much in the same manner he had made the 'to-do' list.

They had enough on Manning for arrest warrants for fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion. They also had enough on him for arrest warrants for murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She was pretty sure the murder charge wouldn't hold but there was enough circumstantial evidence to convince a judge to sign off on the arrest warrant. Jane would let Manning's lawyers play 'let's make a deal' later.

She was banking on Manning's self-preservation instincts coming out. As a lawyer, she just hoped he was smart enough to realize his best option was to give up Phelps so the State's Attorney could pin the actual murder charge on him while he tried to plea bargain his way out of all the white collar financial crimes he was guilty of committing.

By midafternoon, Jane had arrest warrants for Peter Manning as well as search warrants for his home and his office. Jane, Frost and Korsak all made the journey to Manning's office. For someone like Manning, the bigger the scene they could make the better. They had no qualms about interrupting a partners' meeting at the firm to service the search warrant and the arrest warrant for Manning. He was hauled away in handcuffs claiming his innocence all the while his partners seemed to be doing whatever they needed to do to begin to distance themselves from Manning and the damage his arrest would inevitably do to the reputation of their firm. The partners were more than willing to assist in the search warrant execution as files and computers needed to be confiscated.

Manning wouldn't talk without his lawyer present. Jane had expected that. While he waited in a holding cell for that lawyer to show up Jane and Frost kept sifting through the evidence still trickling in. Jane was sometimes amazed by how they could go from having absolutely nothing to go on to having so much it would take several days to even get through it all in such a short period of time. This was just one of those cases. Sometimes it was just harder than other times to find the missing pieces of the puzzle. But once you found one, the rest seemed to just jump out at you.

While waiting for his lawyer, Manning's cell phone records came in. Frost could connect multiple phone calls to Phelps' cell phone including a series of calls both right before and right after Allyson's kidnapping. It appeared as if Phelps forgot to follow rule number 4

_4- Don't bring your cellphone. It will ping off towers and they can track where you have been_

They could track the tower pings of Phelps' cell phone and could put Phelps near the parking garage where Allyson's Nissan was found as well as the Charles River Loop where Allyson's body was found.

It looked like Jane was right about that as well. Manning wasn't with Phelps when Allyson was killed. But she was still fairly certain he gave Phelps the idea to murder as well as helped him plan out the crime. And that, as far as Jane was concerned, would be all she needed to point out to Manning to get him to give up Phelps to save his own ass.

R&I

"My client chooses to exercise his right to remain silent," the man said smugly from his seat across the table from Jane and Frost. Manning's expression didn't match that of his lawyer. Perhaps that had something to do with the realization that ten years of deceit and fraud was about to catch up to the man was a very large thud. He actually looked more likely to throw up or pass out than walk out a free man.

Jane knew he wasn't going anywhere for a while. She was sure that the State's Attorney would even win out in denying bail for Manning at least for a little while. The millions in Swiss bank accounts would be all he needed to prove a flight risk. A lawyer may eventually get a sympathetic judge to at least set an outlandish bail requirement but that would take a few days at least. Manning was going to be spending the night in a general population holding cell and Jane was sure he knew it.

"That's perfectly within Mr. Manning's rights," Jane replied back. "There's not much about this case that we don't already know so there's nothing I need from him." That wasn't true. She needed Phelps.

"These charges against my client are preposterous," the lawyer tried again.

Jane wasn't sure what Manning had shared with his lawyer or what all his lawyer had time to review. There was a growing mound of evidence against Manning and Jane had a feeling the smug lawyer wasn't in the loop on everything Manning had done. But that wasn't her problem.

"We found the Swiss accounts," Jane said to Manning. If it was possible he turned a shade paler. Jane and Frost had seen that kind of reaction before. Vomiting was a distinct possibility and both seemed to shift as much as they could to be out of a direct line of fire if that happened. Again, years on the force prepared them for all sorts of interesting possibilities.

The lawyer blanched a bit at hearing this. Manning must have at least told him something about embezzlement. But he didn't say anything.

"The thing I'm most interested in seeing happen," Jane continued, "is how Pelton will react when he is finally told what you've been up to all these years. He trusted you to take care of his affairs and you repay him by stealing from him. He won't like that at all."

Jane let that sink in for a minute and then continued.

"Normally, embezzlement or fraud all are just financial crimes that shouldn't be too much for you to worry about. A plea bargain. A quick financial settlement in which I'm sure you would only turn over a portion of the millions you have stashed away because let's face it, I'm sure there are several more accounts out there we haven't found yet. You probably wouldn't mind the disbarment. After you jump bail and hide out with your money it's not like you would have any desires to practice law again anyway.

"But like I said, 'normally' this kind of thing is manageable. But unfortunately for you Peter," Jane said and leaned a little closer into the pale lawyer still mindful not to face him head on, "this case isn't normal. And this case isn't all harmless financial crimes. This case has murder tied to it. A murder you helped to plan."

Manning started to visibly sweat and Jane knew he was getting close.

"My client never murdered anyone," the lawyer tried to dismiss Jane.

"Your client is a co-conspirator Mr. Ashford," Jane snapped back. She slide the handwritten note across the table for the lawyer to see and for Manning to realize she had.

Another shade of pale. A little more sweat.

The lawyer seemed to study the note and he was not pleased at all. Clearly his client had not discussed any of this with him before he sat down to this conversation. He tried to play off the meaning of the note.

"This means nothing," he said although Jane could tell he was slowly losing his smugness.

"This means 10-20," Jane answered back. She knew the lawyer was aware of the penalties that conspiracy to commit murder carried.

"You can't tie my client to any murder," he said again. He was posturing for the sake of posturing now. Jane didn't have time for that.

"I can tie your client to the vehicle used in the kidnapping of Allyson Montgomery," Jane answered. She knew there was no way Manning had told his lawyer that. Manning just looked at her.

"You should have worn gloves when you were in that Malibu," Jane said directly to him.

And that's all it took for Peter Manning to lose his lunch. Jane and Frost escaped the mess. His lawyer wasn't so lucky. They stepped out to give the two a chance to not only talk but to get cleaned up.

"That was close," Frost said. He had barely moved out of the way in time.

Jane smiled. "We'll get Phelps for sure now," she said. After, of course, the room was completely cleaned up.

R&I

"We want a deal," the lawyer announced when Jane and Frost really rejoined them.

"Tell that to the State's Attorney," Jane said as nonchalantly as she could. "I'm not here to make any deals for your client."

"What do you want then?" he asked.

Now was the moment. "Your client is aware of Walter Phelps' current location. I want that," she said.

"And in return," the lawyer asked.

"And in return I remember to mention to the State's Attorney that your client was extremely helpful in locating a suspected murderer," Jane said.

She wasn't going to broker any deals but she would point out he was helpful. Let the lawyers figure out deals.

There was silence for a moment in the room. Finally the lawyer leaned in to whisper to Manning. Jane almost smiled as it appeared the lawyer was a little skeptical of leaning in too close. After another few moments of whispered conversation Manning finally looked like he was going to speak.

"Everett," he said. "Pelton owns a home in Everett and Walter is there."

Jane pushed a pad of paper across to him. "I want the address."

Manning's shaking hand began to write.

R&I

SWAT quietly surrounded the home in Everett. Several different teams spread out covering doors or windows designated as possible exits. Jane, Frost and Korsak all were part of the second wave of officers set to enter the building. While Jane doubted Phelps was armed, there was never any certainty on a SWAT entry and her adrenaline was racing. She just wanted to capture Phelps but without any injuries to any of the officers.

The SWAT entry happened quickly. The teams were highly trained and their procession was impressive. Usually when they had surprise on their side these sorts of actions went smoothly. And they definitely had surprise on their side. As far as Jane knew, Phelps had no idea anyone had connected him to a murder or even knew anyone was in the Everett home.

They found Phelps in the living room. He was sitting on the couch watching TV when four SWAT members suddenly had him face down on the ground. He was cuffed and searched in record time. No weapons were recovered and Phelps was too stunned to even put up a fight. Jane spoke the only words to Phelps that weren't shouted versions of 'police' and 'on the ground'.

"Walter Phelps," she said in an even tone, "you are under arrest for the murder of Allyson Montgomery."

Phelps didn't react. Frost escorted Phelps to the cruiser that would take him into the station. He read Phelps his Miranda rights all along the way.

Jane turned to the commander of the SWAT unit. "Thanks Charlie," she said. She was always appreciative anytime SWAT helped with execution their arrest warrants. She was even always more grateful when they went without incident.

"Buy me a beer Rizzoli," he teased with a smile.

"You got it," she said. She made a note to stop by The Tam later in the week to pick of a round for all the guys that had helped.

She turned to Korsak and released a sigh. It had been a grueling case to work that week. "Ready?" she asked.

"Yeah," Korsak replied. They went out to find Frost and follow their suspect back to the station.

"Think he'll talk?" Frost asked as his two partners joined him outside the Everett home.

Both men looked at Jane. She always seemed to have a better sense of that than they did. "I don't think he will," she said. She could be wrong but she was pretty sure he wouldn't talk. If for no other reason than the fact the Pelton didn't when he was first caught.

R&I

Phelps didn't ask for a lawyer right away. But that didn't mean he was answering questions. Jane, Korsak and Frost had tried to get him to answer their questions for about an hour with no luck. They had enough to hold him and more than enough for indictments so Jane was content to just let him sit in jail until his arraignment. Perhaps after he was assigned a lawyer he would talk.

She wanted to understand the thing with the eyes. Pelton never answered that question and Phelps wasn't talking either. She didn't need to know but she had to admit she was curious. She figured it had something to do with believing that they could possess the person even after their death. She thought maybe that's why they were kept. But maybe she wouldn't ever really know that for sure.

Sitting across from Phelps without answers finally came to be more than Jane could deal with. They would send him back into holding. She and Frost went to get up and Jane asked one more question she knew she wouldn't get an answer for but she just had to ask anyway.

"Walter," Jane said and got his attention. "10 years ago did David plead guilty to keep you out of trouble?"

It was something she wondered. Pelton's sudden plea change ended any further investigation into the two homicides. Jane had a strong suspicion Pelton may have done that to keep Jennings and Jackson from finding Phelps. She wondered the reason why.

Both Jane and Frost stared at Phelps. And both saw the change. It was subtle. But it was there. Almost like a nervous twitch he whole demeanor shifted for the slightest of moments and the he went back to being the same stoic self he had been during the entire hour they had tried to ask him questions.

It was the most he had reacted in that entire hours. And it told Jane and Frost a lot. He'd never confirm it but he had finally answered a question.

R&I

The day and the case had earned the three a round at the Robber. Cavanaugh had been invited but respectfully declined. Maura had been invited but she was still handling the autopsy from that morning and wasn't able to free herself. She had told Jane to go ahead without her.

Jane knew she wouldn't stay for more than a couple of beers. She didn't like being out without Maura and wanted to get home to her as quickly as she could.

She caught herself thinking that and had to chuckle. Oh boy was she in real trouble. They were 'together' whatever that would turn out to mean for just over two days and already she was calling the Beacon Hill house home and wanting to spend all her time with the ME. She was falling and falling fast.

She'd even kissed Maura that morning at work. She hadn't even stopped to think about whether Susie or another lab tech could see them. She didn't even care. She had wanted to kiss the woman and that's exactly what she did.

She kept the smile on her face as she remember the intense look she shared with Maura after the Jennings confrontation. Had they not been in the hallway at work, things would have gotten very interesting in that moment. Her cheeks slightly flushed when she thought of the possibilities and let her mind linger on what exactly Maura was implying when she had uttered 'tonight'.

"You alright Jane?" Frost asked. "You look a little flushed."

Jane snapped out of it and tried to play it off. "I'm good," she said hoping the guys would just let it drop.

Both Frost and Korsak looked at her with mild disbelief. A silence settled over the three of them.

"So," Korsak said breaking the comfortable silence. "You and Maura, huh?"

Jane's eyes got big for a second as she heard what Korsak was asking. Looking at both her partners she immediately relaxed when she saw warm, welcoming smiles on both their faces.

"Yeah, me and Maura," Jane confirmed.

Both men smiled. It appeared to Jane as if this news was in no way a huge revelation for either of them. Apparently Jane wasn't as good at keeping her feelings to herself as she thought she was.

Frost grabbed his beer and raised it in a toast to the new couple. "To Jane and Maura," he said with a bright smile. "I think you both will make each other very happy."

With that, the three partners clanked their beer bottles together. Jane wasn't at all surprised that both men seemed to be accepting of this development. In the end she had been pretty sure they cared for both ladies enough to simply be happy for them.

"I just have one question," Vince said in sudden seriousness. Jane looked at him expectantly. "What the hell are you doing here with us when you could be there with her?"

Jane went to give an answer and found she couldn't think of a good one. So she got up and looked at both men. "Good point," she said. "See you two tomorrow."

And with that, Jane left the bar to go explore exactly what was meant by 'tonight'.

R&I

Jane beat Maura home on the night. Again she chuckled to herself at the ease to which she was calling the house home. She knew that had everything to do with its owner and not the house itself. She let herself into the home and was greeted by Jo. She gave Jo some much wanted attention and then went to the fridge to grab a few strawberries for Bass who she found in the living room. He seemed appreciative of the snack or so Jane thought anyway.

She grabbed her phone and went to check up on the ME.

_When will you be finished? -J_

She was hoping Maura would be done soon. She wondered if she should just order takeout. She was too tired to think about cooking and with as long of a day as Maura had she doubted cooking was something the doctor wanted either.

By time Maura answered Jane had all but decided to place a food order to handle their dinner needs.

_Just finishing the last of my paperwork. I should be home in about 30 minutes. -M_

Thirty minutes. Jane could work with that. She needed a shower anyway wanting to wash the day away.

_I've got dinner covered. See you soon. -J_

Jane pulled out a Chinese food menu from a drawer in Maura's kitchen and called in a delivery order. She had time to take Jo on a quick walk and grab the shower she wanted before the food would be delivered.

Her timing was perfect. About two minutes after she had dressed in comfy clothes for the night there was the knock on the front door. Dinner was being delivered. As soon as Jane had paid for the food, Maura was pulling into the driveway.

Jane was in the kitchen working on plating food for both of them when Maura entered. Seeing that Jane had already set two places at the kitchen island and had poured her a glass of wine, Maura's smile got a little bigger. She was already just happy to see Jane in her kitchen but she was hungry and the food smelled great.

"Hi," Maura said warmly as she made her way into the kitchen. She bent down to give Jo her attention for a moment and looked around for Bass.

"In the living room the last I saw him," Jane answered her unasked question. "I already gave him a few strawberries but I'm sure he'd like to see you." She wouldn't know if she would ever understand the bond Maura had with the turtle but she had to admit Bass was growing on her as well.

Maura nodded and went to head towards the living room. Instead of walking there, she stopped and turned walking to Jane who had returned her attention to plating the rest of the Chinese food. Maura walked up behind her and snaked her arms around Jane's waist. Jane, feeling Maura wrapping her up, leaned back into the embrace.

"Hi," Maura greeted again softly. She placed a small kiss on the side of Jane's cheek.

"Hi," Jane answered back enjoying the sudden closeness of the ME.

They stayed that way for a few moments. Each just content for the physical contact. Finally Maura peeled herself away and went to find her tortoise letting Jane finish attending to their dinner.

When Maura came back she, too, had changed into more comfortable clothes. She took a seat next to Jane and they shared a nice casual conversation on how the case finished up for Jane and what Maura had been working on. Neither mentioned the run-in with Jennings but it seemed to be more because it was a non-issue more than anything else. Their conversation carried them all the way through dinner and its subsequent clean up. Kitchen being cleaned they retired into the living room both settling in on the couch.

Maura wasted no time cuddling into Jane on the couch. It just seemed to be a waste for them to be together and not snuggled in as close as they could be.

"I'm glad you came here," Maura said knowing full way that she didn't want Jane anywhere where she wasn't if that could be avoided.

"Where else would I be?" Jane teased knowing what Maura meant but playing with her anyway.

"Technically you do have your own place," she pointed out.

"True," Jane admitted. "But everything I want is here." It was a simple but very true statement. She loved her apartment but Maura was here and she just wanted to spend her time with the woman.

Maura smiled at Jane's comment. She leaned up and into the detective and captured her lips. The kiss was full of meaning and promise and seemed to be Maura's way of conveying to Jane that everything she wanted was right in front of her.

They were both a little breathless when Maura finally released Jane's lips and pulled back. The promise in the kiss seemed to bring back for both of them how they had felt earlier in the day. There was definitely a growing desire to explore things further. Neither seemed to quite know what to say or do so they just resettled back into each other content for the moment to just be.

After a few minutes of easy silence Jane smirked and spoke. "Korsak and Frost know about us," she said.

Jane felt Maura smile as her head had been resting on Jane's shoulder. "Who guessed first?" she asked.

"Vince," Jane answered. "Or at least he was the one to say it out loud. I have a feeling he's known for a while." The man always had a way of just knowing things about Jane. "I have a feeling I tipped my hand to Frost when I put Andrew into the wall." She was pretty sure her actions and the look on her face was the deciding factor for Frost.

Maura snuggled in a little closer. "So are they ok with this?" she asked. She thought they would be. She hoped they would be.

Jane tightened her arms around the ME. "Yeah," she said. "They both just want to see us happy."

"Being with you makes me happy," Maura said. And it did. The last few days she had spent with Jane had fulfilled her more than she thought was possible. As nervous as she had been about making this move with Jane she no longer doubted it. She no longer wondered. She knew this was exactly what they were meant to be doing. They were meant to be together.

Jane chose to answer the ME with her lips and not words. Maura made her happy as well but she had to urge to show her that instead of telling her that. The kiss picked up in intensity almost immediately. Jane pulled the ME closer into her wanting as much contact her as she could get.

As the kiss died off and they were able to allow for an intake of air Jane decided she wasn't quite finished enjoying the woman in her arms. She wanted to know if Maura would taste the same as she had the night before. After releasing the ME's lips, Jane's slowly traced their way across Maura's jaw line with an intent on working over her neck.

Maura did taste the same as before only it seemed to be better today than it had been yesterday. She slowly worked over Maura's neck testing spots she had discovered from the night before to see if Maura still reacted the same. When she did, it just egged Jane on more wanting in that moment to again be the reason the doctor released such a sweet sounding moan.

Her efforts were rewarded several times over as Jane seemed to be unrelenting in her exploration of the skin Maura happily made available to her. The scent. The taste. The feel of it all was something Jane doubted she would ever be able to get enough of in her life.

As much as Maura was absolutely enjoying the feel of Jane all over her neck, she wanted to give as good as she was receiving. She wasn't about to be outdone by the detective. Sensing a slowdown by the detective Maura took advantage of it. In a maneuver that would temporarily confound the detective, the ME managed to get Jane onto her back with Maura now on top of her and hovering with a wicked smile.

She didn't give Jane the time to figure out how she had managed the feat. Instead, she simply claimed the lips she desired and they engaged in another passion filled kiss. Maura traced her tongue across Jane's bottom lip wanting nothing more in that moment than the entrance she was granted.

Jane regained her senses enough to at least attempt to vie for control but Maura seemed unwilling to concede that control in the moment. She didn't fight too hard instead finding pleasure in letting Maura continue her exploration. Who was she to argue with what the woman wanted?

Just as the previous long kiss between the two ended for the need of oxygen, so ended this current one. And just as Jane had used the break to work over Maura's neck, so too did Maura decide it was time for her to get into this as well. She slowly worked her lips down Jane's chin and gently across her neck.

Jane apparently didn't mind this either as a soft moan escaped from her and she tilted her head back exposing even more of her neck for Maura to manipulate. For Maura, this was her first time tasting skin that wasn't Jane's lips. The softness intrigued her but the taste captivated her. Perhaps it was both but either way it all was uniquely Jane and Maura absolutely loved it.

There was a buildup growing between the two and they both seemed to know things were progressing further than they had gone to that point. They both seemed perfectly willing as neither acted as if they were going to be the one to stop where things were heading.

As things started to slow down it was Jane that asked the question. "Are you sure?" She didn't want to rush things. She didn't want to go further than they were both ready for. She needed to be sure.

To answer her, Maura pulled herself up from the couch and reached out her hand. "I'm sure," she said with nothing but confidence in her voice. She had never and Jane had never but in that moment she knew they would manage to figure it out together.

Jane placed her hand in Maura's and stood up. They both headed toward the stairs and knew they were starting the next phase of their relationship.

**A/N Thanks to all who read, followed, favorited and reviewed this story. You all seem willing to put up with my odd love of crime as much as the tender J and M moments. Thanks for humoring me. It was good to be back and thanks for not holding my absence against me. All the support and comments continue to be humbling and I appreciate them all. I'm sure I'll return soon- I won't take as long of a break as last time. I promise. Until then….**


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